Ohana Kai

Zihuatanejo

2009-05-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

May 19, 2009
anchored off Isla Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo Bay
17 40.788N,101 39.403W

We've had a great time revisiting our old haunts and familiarizing ourselves again with Zihuatanejo. The central mercado still runs alive and well every day, you can still buy bags of jamaica juice at every corner and on Sunday night the families and vendors still turn out in the square to enjoy a little get together. A very few familiar faces are still here that we know such as the friendly Port Captain, Victor and our favorite best hamburger man in the world. Due to the fact that high travel and sailing season are over and the fear of swine flu is still in effect, it feels much like a ghost town around here. The only tourists to visit the beaches are the locals and they are having great fun with it. The parasails and banana boats still manage to have quite a business running circles around us at anchor. The food has been fantastic and we have stuffed our insides with all the guacamole, roasted peppers and arrachera we can handle.

We spent a good week anchored just around the corner here in Isla Ixtapa. A little island that is used only during the day time and accessed only by boat. We have the peaceful anchorage all to ourselves in the evenings and spent each morning and afternoon with fun family surf sessions just a dinghy ride away. School and boat projects as usual in between down time. We've even attempted the sad task of beginning to clean and pack the boat up for when it goes on the hard: what goes home, what get's given away to locals and what simply get's tossed out. When the boat is on the hard, many items won't endure the heat. Many items, such as cooking utensils, will get left on though for when we come back to work on her in the spring and potentially move her somewhere new.

Monday the 18th brought the arrival of our friends Tim, Cole and Blake Mason from back home in Port Orchard, Washington for a visit! We are so excited to have them aboard for a couple weeks as we work our way up the coast toward Puerto Vallarta. Only few days on the boat so far and they have proven themselves as very worthy crew! We gave them a day to rest up and then took them on an overnight passage. With 15-20 knots of wind against us it has been a slow and bumpy ride and they are taking it all in stride! We would keep them as crew anytime!

Closed the circle - Completed Circumnavigation

2009-05-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

May 6, 2009 9:55 am
Zihuatanejo, Mexico
coordinates 17 37.552N,101 35.457W

Under blue skies, a light breeze out of the SSE, a perfect 80 degrees with turtles dotting the water, we have officially closed the circle and completed our circumnavigation! We quietly snuck out of the bay in the early morning hours on March 28, 2006 and we glided back in just as peacefully. After so many years of each day bringing us something brand new, it is rather refreshing to see something familiar. It has been a remarkable journey and thankfully one that doesn't have to stop here. Thanks for coming along.

Abundant Life

2009-05-03T06:22:00.000-07:00

May 1, 2009
departing Costa Rica waters
coordinates 13 40.709N,093 31.777W

We have rounded out our stay in Costa Rican waters and still are amazed each day with the abundance of sea life and creatures that we observed. With our extra crew aboard for 17 days, Lisa's sister Krista, her husband Jeffrey and their two boys Indiana age 13 and Lucian age 5 3/4, we explored both the water and the rain forest. Each day we were treated to a collection of rays and turtles, fish and birds. Sights we had never seen before such as clusters of rays, a hundred at a time, would be huddled together in layers just under the surface of the water. We still aren't sure of the nature of the event, be it a mating process or safety in numbers. Then, if we were to spot one turtle, we were guaranteed to see half a dozen in minutes. It didn't matter if we were 2 or 20 miles off shore they would pass us on every side. If any other location in the world is experiencing a turtle shortage, it is only because they have all moved here. One of my favorite events is still to watch the rays leaping out of the water. As we rounded Punta Mala one morning at sunrise, there were easily hundreds of smaller rays leaping to meet the morning like popcorn. One at a time or by the dozen they continued for an hour, jumping for joy.

After Matapala, we made stops along the Osa Peninsula, home to one of it's many many national parks. Ashore we had the chance to hike and ride a horse up the hill side to visit our their property. Tucked neatly inland, they are working to build themselves a peaceful retreat and help to regrow the natural forest that has been destroyed in years past. You could hear the howler monkey's roar in the distance and watch pairs of scarlet macaw fly over head. The hill sides are dotted with bananas, mangos, papayas, and towering trees along the river are strung with vines. After the hot hike a quick dip in the fresh water river was just what we needed.

Next stop was Isla del Canos. We took a quick snorkel and spied many a fish including parrot fish, tangs, angel fish, spotted box fish and a few unique puffer fish in their yellow transition states. One quick evening snorkel to cool off provided a zen moment with a turtle. Unafraid of people it allowed me to just hang out with him, nose to nose, fin to finger, for as long as I desired, watching him continue to move within the swell, chewing on grasses on the ocean floor and rising for air every so often. On the swim back to the boat I thought how wonderful it would be to see a spotted eagle ray and one appeared. I couldn't believe my luck and wished for a octopus, instead a small white tipped shark glided below me. Deciding not to push my luck, I quit my wishing and paddled back to the boat in a continuous praise for the abundance of gifts I've been given in life.

We continued daily to hop and stop along the way at Malpais, Quepos, Tamarindo, and Playa del Coco. There was fun in the water for everyone with friendly surf breaks that the both families could ride, all at the same time. A highlight for all had to be a stop at Roca Bruja (witches rock) and Ollies. Two surf spots made famous by the movie Endless Summer II. The Papagayo winds were living up to their name and blowing 30+ knots as we made our way there and continued for 2-3 days but that didn't deter us. Averaging single overhead, we had the wave all to ourselves in the morning and evening hours before day trip boats appeared.

Our new crew had really grown their sea legs but their time with us was drawing to a close. Daily swims, shared meals and giggles will be precious memories we hold forever. Their energy and enthusiasm was infectious, ready to experience everything that life aboard a boat could show them. We were excited to share our world with them and see this lifestyle through fresh new eyes. Including the stubbed toes, bumped noggins, spit showers and hand pumped toilets that accompany life aboard a boat, they took to it like fish.

Currently we are under way for our next destination, Mexico. We are getting a bit behind in the season and must make it to safer waters before hurricane season sets in. So we have by passed Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala this time, in hopes to return and explore more someday. We get the occasional buzz by a coast guard or navy plane searching for drug runners and the occasional container ship on the horizon but not much other company. We had a bit of sailing the first 36 hours with 30+ knot winds but as of late it has been a hot motor boat ride. Nightly squalls with lightning have spiced up the journey. It is amazing to think that we are only a few days and a few hundred miles from closing our circle around the world.
pura vida

Cruising Surprises in Panama

2009-04-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

April 6, 2009
coordinates 08 06.573N,082 58.445W
sailing along the coast of Panama

Now that we have broken free of the anchorage near Panama City, life is a little more peaceful and familiar. We were a bit surprised to see the teeming sea life each day such as flipping dolphins, flying manta rays, sea snakes and moon jelly's. The birds perpetually dive bomb for their day's catch as the little critters leap for their lives from bigger prey below. It is nice to be back in the gentle roll of the Pacific swell. No more confused seas and choppy waves, at least until the Papagayo winds decide to pick up. We have had a bit of current flowing both ways at various times to work with but very pleasant conditions for day sails. One overnight passage and we found ourselves nestled in a comfortable spot, Ensenada Benao for a couple of nights. We anchored in 20 feet at low tide and just a hop away from the surf! We have to watch the tides a bit more carefully now that we are back in the Pacific since they can range anywhere from 6 to 20 feet depending on the moon at the time. A twelve foot exchange here with the new moon.

We were so happy to get back in the water and get some serious and fun exercise paddling together. It is strange to see only US boats now that all of our foreign com padres are heading in other directions. And the few boats we do see are heading south, opposite direction of us. We pass on info regarding each travelers needed direction and head on our way. Next stop was Punta Naranjo. A comfortable and flat anchorage we hear. The last one was a bit rolly but that is what one gets when they want to be near to the surf. Swell equals good surf and a rolly anchorage. We'll take it!

The next great surprise was our dear friend Natalie. A sweet young adventurous soul that we met when arrived in Puerto Vallarta nearly 4 years ago. A fluent Spanish speaking American living abroad for a time befriended us and we've been connected ever since knowing our paths would cross again someday. As luck would have it, she happened to be traveling in Central America as we are passing through. She managed to catch a flight into San Jose, Costa Rica, then an 8 hour bus to David, Panama, then a who knows how long a bus ride to Sona, then an interesting night sleep in an interesting hotel, to catch another bus to some tiny coastal town of Santa Catalina, where we found her standing on a beach, picked her up in our dinghy, doused her with sea water and we were reunited. We have been blessed by this renewed friendship and a traveling companion for a week. We've continued to island and anchorage hop our way up the last bit of Panama with her, from Morro Negro to Isla Cavada. We have introduced her to the lifestyle of a boater, she has brought amazing joy and energy to us. Together we have been discovering some of Panama's treasures along the way.

A less desirable surprise was in Puerto Armuelles. Again, the best laid plans... We timed our arrival into the final port of Panama for a Sunday night. Intending to check out on Monday and then be on our way. We had not even finished setting the anchor when the Port Capitan, the Immigration and Quarantine Officers appeared at our boat and boarded us. This does not happen often but is not entirely out of the realm of possibilities when entering a new Port. The unfortunate part is that they insisted we had to check in at THAT moment, which of course on a Sunday meant overtime for them and a lot more money. Even with Natalie's fluent and very persuasive interpreting we were not able to sway the officials to letting us check in the following day as we had planned. Long story short and a quick trip to town, a $36 dollar check out of the country process now cost us $136 and left us with a bitter taste in our mouth. One more official on shore sensing this displeasure didn't want us to leave his country unhappy and offered us a quaint little wooden replica of the "Mayflower" boat as a peace offering. We're touched, though we would rather have our $100 back.

This morning we are back underway and rounding the final point or Punta Burica in Panama and heading for Costa Rica. With great anticipation, we are awaiting the arrival of our newest crew members. Lisa's sister Krista with her whole family are coming for a visit to sail, surf and play with us on the sail boat in Costa Rica. They boys are most excited to visit with their cousins whom they haven't seen for a very, very, very long time!

Panama City and Flamigo Island Anchorage

2009-03-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

March 28, 2009
Flamingo Island anchorage
coordinates 08 54.606N,079 31.474W

We let you know what an experience transiting the Panama Canal was but we wanted to give you a bit more insight into the great bits of info our advisors had passed on to us. There are approximately 80 advisors that ride along with each vessel as they transit. If your vessel is over 65 feet long you need to carry an actual pilot captain. These men that join the smaller boats all have primary jobs, most of them within the canal system and do this "advising" on their off days. The ones we spoke with actually prefer this to their real jobs. It's a great chance for them to meet new people, break away from their usual work and make some extra cash. We were blessed with two great characters. And right of the bat we learned of just how great the Panamanian Foreign exchange program is. At age 13, many children of Panama get the opportunity to study for 3 months abroad in the United States. It was obviously a great start and opportunity for our guides as their English was spectacular, their knowledge of world politics, etc. as good if not better than our own. They gave us many insights on life in Panama and the city. One of our advisors primary jobs was supervisor of the security forces that patrol the waters on the Pacific side of the canal entrance. A few of his men passed us many times that day in their patrol boats and we were able to benefit from his position with the free delivery of buckets of ice right to our boat while under way. Nice treat in the heat!

The canal which was built under President Roosevelt was given back to the people of Panama December 31, 1999. From what we gather, when it was run by the US Military, it was run as a government institution not necessarily as a business and at the end of each fiscal year, they would plug whatever funds were left over back into the canal. Each department needed to find ways to put that money back into the canal, new paint or carpet for the buildings, etc. The military that oversaw the running and protection of the canal lived and stayed in the area, bringing peace, security and money back into the communities. There have been pros and cons they say to the US pulling out. That security and peace has definitely diminished especially in the outer areas such as Colon, the poor Cinderella step child to the greater Panama City. The money is no longer being put back into those communities as well. But while being run as a company, the Canal has managed to increase the amount of ships that transit, and therefore increase their net profit to the tune of $800 million last year. How that money get's put back into the country we are not sure.

They are busily expanding the canals with an additional mega lock at both the Pacific and Caribbean end, as well to accommodate the PanMax ships. Displays in the visitors center show how the new water pumping systems will be even more efficient. We hear that increases in the transit fees will help to pay for that expansion. Our transit fees ran us around $650, including using the assistance of Tito. The cheapest transit fee ever paid was 37 cents by an English man I believe who swam the entire canal. The most expensive fee paid these days is $250,000 for the larger container ships 250,000, the average freighter pays $180,000.

Just outside the Panama Canal on the Pacific side you have two immediate options for places to keep the boat. The Balboa Yacht club offers moorings for a fee or you can anchor for free in the protection of the Flamingo Island with 50 other like minded sailors. A few of them have been there for quite a while and they know their way around the place. The radio net in the morning will cover all you needs. If you can get your hands on one of the maps they provide you will surely find everything you need. Again the anchorage was comfortable enough despite day trip boats that parade past you daily, we were anchored in 20 feet of thick gooey mud. Again as in Colon, a dirty anchorage as the pollution level of Panama City declines with the continuous burning of something we know not what. We simply know the boats are consistently covered in ash, morning, noon and night. Across the bay Panama City shows an impressive skyline and malls to rival any major US town.

Ashore we were easily able to get our provisioning done with taxis that are always at the ready for you. Directly behind the Playita Marina Yacht club there is a Natural Reserve park of sorts that is home to a family of 3 toed sloths. We spent the week completing a few boat projects such as a new antenna for our radio that Bruce placed atop the mast, replacing spark plugs in the outboard, replacing belts on the engine. We treated ourselves to the tasty tamales that the locals sell outside each store. There is nothing as good as local flavor. We took a quick trip back to the Miraflores Locks to view them from the observation deck on land and cheered the Kelly's and crew on as they passed through the locks themselves. The boys were able to spend to spend some last great days playing with their pals, Alice, Will and Edward from s/v Vagabond Heart. They along with a dozen or more vessels are preparing for the own Pacific Ocean crossing where they are starting to head back toward their homelands of Australia and New Zealand. We had been traveling with quite a large batch of them through the canal and it was time to bid them farewell and send them on their way, as we head closer to home as well.

Port Colon and Cristobal

2009-03-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

March 17, 2009
anchored in the flats Port Colon
coordinates 09 20.686N,079 54.529

We just rounded out our stay in Panama City and have to say the time spent here and in Colon was very interesting. Over all, despite the crime and pollution of the areas, Panama gets a thumbs up from us. First some thoughts on Colon.

We had some wonderful day sails as we left the San Blas Islands getting to the Port of Colon and Cristobal. They have created a new channel through the break water that allows smaller boats to enter the Caribbean side of the entrance to the Panama Canal shipping channel. This way we do not have to compete with the big boys. The enormous ships are stacked up inside and outside, anchoring everywhere while either beginning or ending their transit. It was remarkable that just anyone could motor on in there. They see you coming but didn't have anything to do with you. We wove our way through the big boys and anchored in the "flats" as the anchorage is called. It sits on the southern side of the channel right next to the loading dock for the container ships. A safe and comfortable enough anchorage, it did tend to get very dirty out at the boat since the ships closest to us were perpetually emptying themselves of some sort of gravel load. We gave up cleaning for the week and learned to keep the hatches shut. Rubbish and or tire fires burn perpetually, thankfully down wind of us. But the rosy glow they give on the horizon at night is a constant reminder of what is helping to cause the thick grey sky.

The Panama Canal Yacht Club (PCYC) or PanCan as they affectionately refer to themselves is situated up inside the loading docks for these large ships. You dinghy right past the container ships on your way in and can nearly slap the hulls if you felt so inclined. The land is owned by the shipping companies which brings us to the dilemma. The PCYC is unfortunately no longer allowed to keep their business and marina open on this land and were to relocate by April 1st. Three weeks prior to that date, starting at 3am, the shipping company took matters in their own hands with a bull dozer and began to tear the buildings down. By the time we arrived the marina docks where still standing with boats tied to them. Water was unavailable at the dock and power was precariously being wired in. The employees of PCYC were working out of a shipping container and they had fashioned an internet location out of a chain link fence with a tin roof and fake grass. While I sat there one day "connecting" to the internet, the bull dozer continued to tear down buildings only 20 feet away from me. They have stacked two giant shipping containers a top each other at the entrance so no cars may come or go. This left only space for a person at a time to squeeze though with difficulty. A container as well blocks the boat ramp that no boats may enter or exit the waters.

First and foremost we have to say that we have no knowledge of the reasoning nor the order of events that have led to the end of the current PCYC. The land does belong to the shipping company though it does look like things could be handled much more professionally. We do know that they are still currently trying to work on a compromise. What we do know it that all the crew and employees of the PCYC were the most professional, considerate and helpful bunch ever. Not once did they complain about their situation to us while they continued to work diligently, in very difficult environment, with the lack of knowledge regarding their own security and future of their jobs. Not once did they slander or disparage the opposing forces whom they were dealing with. They took fast and efficient care of us and all our needs. And there was a lot of us. With news of this port closing as of April 1st the rush of dozens and dozens of boats would have overwhelmed the most organized of marina's, let alone one that was barely standing on it's own two feet. I must say I was very ashamed though many times at the behavior of many of the other cruisers and their own lack of patience and poor treatment of this staff. This port is the only place on the Caribbean side where one can currently do all the work it takes to prepare for a canal transit. This includes stops to many offices, banks, copy shops, getting your boat measured, gathering tires and 4 100ft long lines for boat handling. Enter Tito. As we hit shore the first day, we had the pleasure of making his acquaintance. He is the go to guy. Instantly he scooped us up in his car along with the Kelly's and drove us everywhere we needed to go and in a matter of moments the process had begun, for what we felt was a reasonable fee. We were scheduled for our measurement, we were checked into Panama, he guided us carefully through the whole process and even treated us to some freshly squeezed o.j.

Watching him in action warms the heart as he takes the concept of community service to an all new level. We are sure nearly all of our $50 that we paid to him for his services were dispersed immediately back into his community. He willingly hands the money right back to his "neighbors" for school supplies, new shoes, lunch, what ever their needs are. He takes the young men of the community and employs them all in assisting with preparing the tires for the cruisers like us coming through. The tires are all ready wrapped in plastic and tied up with lines ready to go for us. A job that we reluctantly thought we were going to have to find a way to do ourselves. When they have shown him enough responsibility he assists them in getting jobs as line handlers for the canal and then jobs within the canal system itself. Anything to keep them off the amazingly dangerous streets of Colon. Unfortunately, not always successful he told sad stories of two young boys he had already lost this year. One just two weeks prior had been shot 8 times after stepping in to rescue a friend from being beat up.

And unfortunately, it really was that dangerous there. The staff of PCYC could not impress upon us all enough just how dangerous it was outside the chain link fence surrounding the shipping port and marina. You can see the bus stop only a block or two away from the gate and yet during our stay, there were two muggings as people walked to it. One in broad daylight where they stripped the rings right off the woman's fingers and her pack off her back. Kelly boy and Bruce were waved off one street and redirected by a gentleman one day as they walked around down town unaware of just how serious it was. It turned out he was waiving them to head a different direction and likely saved them from the same fate. It was difficult to imagine people living in such a situation since it was not just us obvious newbies that were subject to the violence. Everyone there is a target, evidenced by the armed guards that stand outside nearly every store front. If you want to enter a business they knock on the glass door, which is then unlocked to allow you to enter and then locked again behind you while you shop. Yet the people of Colon look as happy and relaxed as you would in your own neighborhood. We personally never felt in any danger due to everyone being so cheerful. I can't imagine the level of desensitization that would have to take place to keep any piece of mind and sanity.

We have not heard yet what is to become of the PCYC and what their next step will be. Shelter Bay Marina is still functioning on the north side of the channel. We have no doubts though that they will come up with some method to keep the process going to help other sailors on the transits through the Panama Canal.

Panama Canal Tranist MOVED UP! March 18!

2009-03-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

Wednesday March 18, 2009
Ohana Kai has a new date to transit the canal. We are transiting the first set of Gatun Locks at approximately 7 pm local time or 5 pm Pacific time. We will pick up a mooring in the Gatun lake for the night and then proceed to the second set of Miraflores locks and transit on Thursday the 19th at approximately noon local time or 10 AM Pacific time. We are rounding up our tires for extra fenders on the boat currently, our last load of laundry and our last provisioning run yesterday and we're ready to go. The Kelly's from Moorea will be joining us for extra line handlers so we're in good hands!
Here is the link for the Panama Canal Live Video cameras
http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html
See you there!
your Ohana Kai crew

The last of the Carib

2009-03-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

February 27, 2009
Holandes Cays, San Blas, Pamana
coordinates 09 34.930N,078 40.769W

We've departed the Caribbean Islands and left the good ole' liming lifestyle behind. Liming is the mentality of "relaxing, hanging out, or doing what you love". The origins of the word are thought to have come from the nickname the locals gave to the foreign sailors who used to hang out on the docks just to watch the ships while they chewed on citrus fruits. a.k.a Liming

We made quick stops in Bonaire and Curacao. Entering Bonaire, their Navy helicopter pilots put on quite a show for us. They were out doing drills as we rounded the southern tip of the island so they decided to do a fly by and give us a buzz, and then a water show as they lowered themselves so near to us they showered us with sea water. Two squealing and cheering boys was all these mavericks needed for encouragement and we actually had to put the cameras away before they got too wet. The entire
coastline of Bonaire is protected as a national water park with crystal clears waters. All boats are tied to moorings, no anchoring here. Right off the back of the boat you could dive to see small schools of fish and corals enjoying their new ecosystem growing on the moorings blocks. We also had the chance to spy "Octopus" the fabulous mega motor vessel owned by Paul Allen. After seeing the Maltese Falcon, it's like big boat bingo out here.

The anchorage in Spanish Water on the island of Curacao is a unique channel naturally cut into the island. Well protected from any swell, the expat community is strong here. Free bus shuttles take you to find every amenity you may need during your stay. The hike to customs and immigration has to be one of the longest ones yet, but with a little charm and a smile, the procedures are relatively smooth. We did have the opportunity to watch the parades for carnival. All the colorful costumes, friendly
faces and lively music you can take. The islands of the Netherlands Antilles are an interesting mix of Dutch, meets Spanish, meets Carib. Papiamento is the language that results from combining the three and we have to say though listening to them is a joy, communicating can be difficult. The brightly painted buildings of downtown Willamstead we were told were reminiscent of Amsterdam. Our stay was short and sweet. Unfortunately we had to move on before the final hurrah on Tuesday, but when the
weather window opens one must go through.

With the winds at our back we made a quick run right past Aruba. Though we can't speak to what the setting may be like on land, from the water point of view, the southern tip of the island was so polluted and stinky with smoke and discharge from their industrial stacks that you couldn't even see the land. It was amazing. A dozen ships anchored off we believe waiting for their shipments of fuel or oil. A dozen more ships have been passing us on our journey towards the canal no doubt with their
own transits to complete.

Our next destination is the San Blas islands just south east of the Panama Canal. The winds and seas are notorious for being viciously strong and tumultuous around the corner of Cartengena, Colombia but our weather gribs were showing good potential for us to have decent run at it. So we took it along with 4 other boats. A perfectly consistent 25-35 knots of wind out of the east and we whipped our way through the waters. Double reef in the main and an itsy bitsy piece of the jib out, we were still
trying to slow down, covering the 650 miles in 4 days. We made made landfall in the Hollandes Cays at sunrise on my birthday the 27th.

We are really looking forward to spending some time here to visit just a few of the 365 islands and experience the Kuna Indians of the Kuna Yala Nation. One of the largest indigenous American Indian group left, they live largely untouched by civilization. A matrilineal society, the women are in charge of bringing in most of the money with their famous molas. Colorful clothes sewen and embroidered by hand. When men marry in a family, they move to the woman's household bringing their few clothes
and machete. The men are in charge of fishing, tending to the simple gardens and care of coconuts. By law, the land belongs to "all" Kuna's so not a coconut nor shell fish may be taken. They understand the concept that this world is to be co-owned and cared for by all.

Los Roques

2009-02-12T09:19:00.000-08:00

February 10, 2009
Caya de Agua, Los Roques, Venezuela
coordinates 11 50.386N,066 55.623W

We've just rounded out an incredibly peaceful week in the islands of Los Roques, Venezuela. Without any true guidebooks and charts that were measuring a consistent 1/2 of a mile off to the north, the navigation was interesting but worth the effort. We entered the archipelago at the southeast entrance and snug ourselves in behind the reef at the Sebastapol anchorage. Small spits of soft white fine sand surrounded by old piles of coral and light blue waters. You can walk forever in the water up
to only your knees. No palm trees to be seen but green patches of salt wort, a low lying succulent of sorts, cover parts of the tiny island bits. Piles of conch shells are left behind with the distinctive hole cut into their side where others have made a tasty meal out of them. Shelled creatures of the smaller size, specifically hermit crabs o' plenty here. Once you sat on the beach and let your eyes adjust, you would see the entire sandscape come alive as the hundreds of tiny critters were busily
going about their business, walking to and fro across their own horizons. The only other living creatures we spied were the occasional day trip boats coming out to view the islands and then head back to the main island of Gran Roque. We spent 4 wonderful days there filling our mornings with school and boat projects and afternoons with swimming, exploring and hermit crab races. The ideal spot with calm flat shallow waters, consistent 15-20 knots of winds, made this location perfect for kite boarding.
Our challenge for the moment was a misbehaving alternator we thought. We changed it out with the back up only to find out it is the regulator instead. Changed it out again with the back up to the back up that happens to have it's own built in regulator. Though not as efficient, for now it will do fine. The great winds and bright sunshine are keeping the batteries topped off nicely, but no rain to speak of.

Since we are officially checked out of Venezuela, we are technically treading illegally in Venezuelan waters. They have created a system that makes it nearly impossible for sailors such as ourselves to visit these islands legally. The only place to check out of the country is back at the mainland and to sail back there would be too great of a challenge. So people do as we are and simply avoid the main island of Gran Roques just a stones throw away. The locals we have met thus far have been very
friendly and cordial, letting us know that we are safe to continue on as we go. Very rarely the coast guard will do a sweep of the islands at which time we would likely have to pay a fine and head on our way. So until then, we continue to play ignorant and apologize after.

Next stop was the island of Francisqui in the northeast corner just beside Gran Roque. The few happy tourists that are visiting here are brought over in water taxi's each day to enjoy the same shallow waters and simple beach. Again a great location for kite boarding though we are spoiled now with having the anchorage all to ourselves and perfectly flat waters. We lasted only two nights here before moving on. Further west, the island of Crasqui was our next stop for one night. Anchored in 10 feet
of sand we spent the time watching the pelicans scoop up their fair share of the plentiful fish. Sometimes soaring from high above to dive bomb and capture their prey but just as often, here they simply sit in the water, dunk their heads in and scoop up a mouthful. We have also noticed the green cloud phenomenon that we've seen on one or two other occasions. As the low cumulous clouds roll over the widespread shallow light blue waters and green islands, they reflect the green colors off their bottom,
giving your green clouds as plain as St. Patty's day.

Last stop, Caya de Agua, the farthest point west in Los Roques. Again, anchoring in only 10' of sand after negotiating our way around some coral reefs. This island seems to be home to hundreds of small black and brown lizards and to the thriving population of Brown Boobie birds. Dozens of their nests dot the shoreline set back up in the grasses. The mommies are all protectively sitting on their clutches of 4 or so eggs. No babies have hatched yet that we can see. After our experience in Isla
Isabella, Mexico, we know that you don't mess with a Bobbie mama and her babies. They'll chase you and go straight for your toes and ankles to keep you away.

A lovely anchorage, we stayed 3 nights. The waters here are a bit more choppy and rolly, and the waters not quite to clear close to shore. We took a quick snorkle at a nearby reef to find little coral and a few fun fish but not much else. The locals seems to come up with some great goods of lobsters, large fish and conch shells every time they go down. We'll have to see if we can go with them next time.

Isla Margarita, Venezuela

2009-02-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

Saturday January 31, 2009
Porlamar, Isla Margarita, Venezuela
coordinates 10 57.075N,063 49.916W

We had more motoring than sailing on our way to Venezuela than we had hoped, so now we really did need to stop for fuel. We were understandably unsure and apprehensive about staying long at this destination due to the overwhelming reports that came out regarding the increased physical violence along with the armed robberies that had been occurring here. The bay itself does not have a lot of redeeming values to it though the water is clean enough to swim in. The skyline of shore is surprisingly
tall with hotels and office buildings. We did not expect that. The shoreline itself has much the feel of a very run down barrio and the down town feels like a bustling once upon a time tourist destination. The taxi cab drivers we met were extremely helpful, friendly and were happy to let us know that they loved living there, it was better than the main land. Safer for them but not for tourists, too many guns. That little hand signal for gun is universal. According to all of them Chavez is crazy
and Obama is great.

We timed our arrival for sunrise Monday morning, hoping that we could check in, get fuel and check out potentially in a days time. Oh well. There are 50+ boats anchored there at any given time and some look like they have been there for 50 years. It is a good place to "lose" yourself if so desired. Try to explain that concept to your kids. Though we never felt threatened ourselves, we never felt relaxed either, especially at night. It is recommended that you lock yourself in and bring all items
inside that might grow feet. Not in our entire travels have we ever been told to "lock yourself in". Usually we sleep with all the doors and windows open. On shore you can meet Juan of Marina Juan. Full of information and well spoken he offers a wide variety of services from propane on tue/thur, laundry 5 bolivars/kg, free shuttle mon/wed to town for a shopping experience and provisioning. There is a huge selection of books for trade and he'll gladly do your check in/out for you for a fee.
Approximately $290 Bolivars in/ $250 Bolivars out for the four of us. Or you can do it yourself at the Coast Guard just down the beach for much less. We checked in with him and then realized we could check out on our own saved about $120. Taxi cab rides are 12-15 bolivars and they'll take you right down town for your shopping or money exchanging needs. At the bank the exchange rate is 2.5 Bolivars to 1 USD. At the little clothing store "Ellos" across the street from the BP fuel station you can
safely get the black market exchange rate of 5 Bolivars to 1 USD, which everyone recommends you do. Don't change money on the street by solicitors as they will likely run off with your money. Following everyone's advise we went to the clothing store to get the most bang for our buck but are still have questionable feelings as to whether or not we just contributed to some underground drug ring.

We did eventually get our fuel. Though we made appointments for him to come Monday afternoon, then Tuesday morning, how about Tuesday afternoon, he finally appeared Wed at 4pm. That is island time. Happy to help, he drove his panga (fishing boat) up beside us and let his partner hand crank the 300 liters into out tanks. It was worth the wait at 40 cents/gallon. As Bruce says, what fuel crisis.

Lastly, no trip to Venezuela would be complete with out some discussion of the booming plastics industry. A whole new lesson in anatomy, it is apparently very common and very cheap to have breast augmentation done here. We heard stories that it can be a right of passage for many 16 year old girls. Easy to say we have never seen so many big boobies in all our days. Grandma, mom, daughter, right on down the line, everyone was wearing them. The boys seem remarkably unaffected by the anatomy lesson,
mom and dad were still flabbergasted. We debated, fuel ??? new boobs ??? fuel ??? new boobs ???. OK, this time we needed fuel more.

Happy to have the company of the pelicans and frigate birds again we are moving on to more remote waters. Currently under sail and half way to our next destination of the atolls and islands of Los Roques and Aves before heading onto the ABC's. Though it was tough to unplug from the internet we are very excited to seek some more peaceful settings and get our feet wet.

until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please remember to delete old messages first when replying to emails, THANKS

Merry Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T04:02:00.001-08:00

December 25th, 2008

Holiday greetings and love to all. We truly hope that you are surrounded by all the love and warmth you can handle this day, enjoying all the gifts that life can give.

Christmas in Martinique is unique thus far. It is certainly tropical and green for a good reason. Refreshing rain showers and squalls run through about every hour. You can see them coming, wash over you and roll on their way in minutes. It is much like being in an automated car wash. It helps a lot to break up the humidity and heat. The energy and livelihood of the people rings through even in their Christmas music. We've only gone ashore so far really for grocery shopping and a bit of internet.

Christmas Eve we had a fun get together with our two pal American boats, Don and Anna on s/v Redwood Coast II and the Kelly's on s/v Moorea. It is always fun to see how resourceful people out here can be with home made gifts and impromptu pot lucks. Generosity abounds. Santa found his way the boat between rain showers and the family has enjoyed a quiet and comfy Christmas morning. The boys are already engrossed in a crystal making set, pirate costumes, new books and a game boy game. Oh yes,
and there's plenty of chocolate to keep us going for a while.

Christams day activities include our continued tradition of cleaning all the goose neck barnacles that hitched a ride across the Atlantic on the bottom of the boat.

Blessings to you on this joyous day, remebering the reason for the season. The truest gift of all, life everlasting.

Racing Santa to the Finish Line!

2008-12-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

December 22, 2008 7:30 pm local time
coordinates 14 26.127N,060 53.238W

WE MADE IT! 22 days and 4 hours but whose counting. The wind filled in fantastically for us on the last four days. Ohana Kai really hit her stride and we flew in just under the radar to beat Santa to the finish line. We dropped the anchor in St. Anne's Bay, Martinique, just as the sun was setting. Picture Perfect. The anchorage is chock full of boats coming from all directions. The land looks lovely, very green and lush from the water. The hillsides are dotted with cows. It smells like a
warm summer day after the lawn has been mowed, with a dose of sea weed mixed in. The shallow waters around the southern tip of the island are canvased in fishing nets marked only by clear and small water bottles. Friends ahead warned us of these traps but even as we were looking for them it took all our concentration to dodge them. Best to stay in deeper waters.

Tomorrow we'll head to town to check in to the country. Martinique is governed by the French, so it is a little funny to hear yet another new language on the radio. We'll stretch our legs on shore, look into laundry, produce, internet, chandleries and begin to clean up Ohana Kai.

Christmas is coming, the crew are sleepy heads, pleased to sleep the whole night through in their "not moving" beds. (Must sing that last line with a melodious tune)

Most of all, thanks so much to everyone for all the words of encouragement, positive thoughts and prayers. They help more than you know. We aren't doing this alone.

500 Miles to Go!

2008-12-19T01:35:00.000-08:00

December 19, 2008 2:51 AM
coordinates 14 32.314N,052 22.933W

Being able to click off another hundred miles each day is the best Advent calendar we could ask for. It is extremely slow going right now but any progress is good progress.

Day 16 - Another day of bright blue skies we decided to take advantage of it and send Tristan up the mast. Matthew helped tail lines and also managed to do a bit of photo journaling of the event. We had a leader line threaded through the mast previously in case we ever needed to run another halyard. We put him in his harness, strapped him tightly to the front roller furling and hoisted him away. It was quite a task at hand as the boat with no sails up now, pitches to and fro with greater force
when there's nothing to stabilize it against the swell. In addition, he had to pull the line out, wrap it around his arm and cut the line. What's that old saying about not running with scissors, what decent mother would send her child up 52 feet into the air with scissors. Mission accomplished with amazing strength and fortitude, alas the halyard is not run to fit our needs for the head sail or spinnaker. In the process though, we do discover that the genoa halyard, since not in use do to the
torn sail, will fit the bill. We have been flying the spinnaker successfully ever since with little to no chaffing. We pull it down every 5 hours to assess it's strength and hoist it right back up again. We are like a finely tuned Indi pit crew at this point in our routine. At night we motored due to the unpredictable winds and squalls so the water tanks are full and the batteries are topped off.

Day 17 - Under grey skies we hoist the spinnaker again at sunrise and fly it until sunset. We had a consistent 20 knots of wind and made great time. Again in the evenings, the winds drop too much to sail with the main and staysail but too unpredictable for the spinnaker, motor on. After one quick wet squall and the moon had broken through the clouds, Bruce woke us up to show us something we had never seen before - a moon rainbow. Complete half circle across the horizon ahead of us was a shining
white moonbow.

Day 18 - Sunny skies and VERY light winds. 5-10 knots out of the E-SE and we are making speeds of 3-4 knots accordingly. It is forecasted to continue this way for the next 24-48 hours. We have only 4 days worth of fuel left at least 6 left to get there at this pace, so we are trying to avoid starting the motor at all costs. The seas are nice and calm with the lack of wind and not a squall in sight. So we are taking our chances and flying the spinnaker all night. Our course is a little off at
this point and it looks like we're heading for Barbados rather than Martinique on the charts. When the winds fill back in on Monday, we'll get back on track then.

We have officially passed the mark as well for the longest time we've spent out on the water. It took us 18 days to cross the Pacific. We still feel very lucky to have only 5 or 6 days left to go out here. We know quite a few people who spent the better part of a week bobbing around. So let's sail on!

Wear and Tear

2008-12-16T01:38:00.000-08:00

December 16, 2008 3:30
coordinates 15 11.128N,046 37.446W

It is nothing if not exciting out here. The last two out of three days have been continually plagued by squalls and ever changing winds. We have a new cheer, Reach to the left, Reach to the right, Up wind, Down wind, Fight, Fight, Fight, Gooooooo Ohana Kai!
We were beginning to think the little black rain cloud was following us. If you look on radar you don't see it anywhere else.

Day 13 - The Wear: As our morning was beginning to roll along we heard an enormous snap and the unmistakable sound of line zinging through it's holds. We jumped above to assess the damage and found that a shackle had snapped in two on one of the primary blocks for the sheet on the main sail. It holds the main sail in place so without it, the boom had now swung wide to the starboard side. Without the battens in it the sail had wrapped itself around the spreader like a wet hanky. We were able to
recover the sail and much to our amazement, we didn't rip off a spreader and there were no tears or further damage to the sail. We spent the next couple of hours shifting pieces and parts around the boat managed to find a replacement and get things back in action. Voila, back on track. It was amazing to see how much wear on the metal finally just caused it to fail.

Day 14 - The Tear : Again as our morning was getting under way, Bruce had just finished the morning radio net, was brushing his teeth in hopes of a long mid day nap when he peeked up at the head sail and noticed a 6-12" tear horizontally in the upper third of the sail. We flew up top to roll in the sail. Again it happened in relatively light winds and calm seas as all our sail damage does. We decided to take advantage of the light winds and bring the sail down to see if we could repair it. Let's
just say, by the time we were done with it, it wasn't a simple 6-12" tear anymore. The fabric has grown so fragile that the tear continued on into the shape of a T or X and now likely at least a 6-12" in each direction. We haven't actually had the heart to unroll it yet and assess the damage yet. We can't say that it was unexpected. We had been carefully watching, waiting and babying the sail with possibly false hopes that it would make the crossing. The winds had since picked up and the rains
set in, so with the storm sail and the main we were still making progress. From there we have lost track of how many squalls have passed us by and from what direction. We kept moving the sails around until 2pm and were even able to take showers in the rain the down pour was so strong.

Day 15 - Oh happy day, sunshine! With light winds, we flew the spinnaker for the better part of the day. When we took it down this evening, we found a spot on the halyard where it nearly wore through. Had we not caught that one in likely another half hour we would have been fishing the spinnaker out of the water with any luck. It is a little too difficult for us to sail the spinnaker at night with these unpredictable winds and we need to find a way to address the spot causing the wear on the
halyard, so we will be forced to motor overnight. Hopefully the stronger winds will fill back in soon. We have a new neighbor tonight. s/v Gillarooo from Ireland is visible on the horizon. www.gillarooo.co.uk (I'll have to check on the spelling of that one)

There are a few silver linings to what we thought was our perpetual wet black cloud: it did decide to not rain on us during both wear and tear events, it is at least warm weather now not freezing cold rain so if one has to shower in the rain this is the place to do it, and the events happened during relatively calm and daylight hours. For all the things that could have really gone wrong, they didn't. We have been blessed.

So, here's to silver linings, Goooooooo Ohana Kai!

Water, Water Everywhere!

2008-12-15T02:01:00.000-08:00

Saturday December 13, 2008 3:30AM

The last 48 hours have brought us plenty of rain. The squalls continue to march across the sky coming up out of the SW and heading NE. It is interesting to watch those black lines bear down on you. Luckily they have brought nice winds which keep us moving toward our goal but once they pass we are back to wallowing on our own. With all the power washing we have been receiving, it is fair to say there isn't a speck of Sahara sand left on us.

The biggest change is the noise, or lack there of. We finally took the battens out of the main sail. They are flat long fiberglass stays that slide into the main sail giving it a bit more form and rigidity. That is a great help when we are sailing up wind but it has been murder on our nerves with this rolling around. With each swell the sail would fill and unfill with a noisy crack, sending the reverberations down the mast and throughout the whole boat. With each whip, our nerves would fray
a little more at the thought of the potential damage we were doing to the sail, not to mention disturbing the precious sleep of the mate of duty. Removing them has brought an end to that noise. The extra weight that they provided in the sail actually was helping them to flog around a bit so they are even a bit more stable now on this down wind run. Best of all, that equates to better sleep, at least for Lisa. Poor Bruce is still plagued with nothing but disruptions on his daytime naps. Hopefully
that changes a bit tonight.

Day 11 brought consistent squalls, Day 12 brought something new every hour. Winds from the North, the South, the West and finally back out of the East. The final squall came around 3pm on Friday with a whopping 35 knots of wind and a torrential down pour, then they seemed to have blown them selves out for a while. We have actually settled into a steady 25-20 knots out of the ESE and are clipping right along the rhumb line toward our destination.

Spending half your nights awake and half you days asleep sort of causes the days to run together. Luckily we have our stellar crew of Tristan and Matthew to keep things in order. After school work they have started taking on new projects. Matthew entered the galley today and cooked up some delicious coconut chocolate chip cookie bars for us all by himself, and Tristan is diligently sewing some very special Christmas presents. The Christmas chain is starting to grow nicely as we count our days
out at sea. I have to say that it is much more fun to count down the last half than it is to count up the first half.
We hear that some significant weather is heading your way for many of you, so if you get the opportunity, throw a snowball or two for us.
until next time,
Your Ohana Kai crew

Half Way!!!

2008-12-10T23:56:00.000-08:00

December 11, 2008 6AM
coordinates 16 24.750N,036 03.405W

By the time you read this, we will have officially crossed the half way point on our Atlantic journey. Roughly 1350 nm down and 1350 to go. 11 Days so far. The last 4 days have brought us quite a mixed bag of weather. The majority of which held little to no winds and we were struggling with flogging sails and restless spirits, clocking only an average of 115 mile days. At this speed we will just make it in by Christmas Eve, but no guarantees. With the boys weather book, we are practicing our
forecasting skills. We are getting rather competent at judging highs/lows and reading the clouds and barometer, not mention very familiar now with relative vs. absolute humidity!

Day 7 Light winds off and on out of the east, thunder and lightning storms at night that make for a beautiful show. When the clouds part the stars shine bright. Orion is standing guard directly above us and marching on his way to the horizon. The moon is growing great and Jupiter is brighter than we've ever seen.

Day 8 No wind and we break down for a fairly full day of motoring. The up side to motoring means the running the water maker and filling the tanks up with hot water for showers! There was even enough power and water left over to make extra for a couple loads of laundry. Of course, doing laundry out here has much the same affect as washing your car at home, in comes the rain.

Day 9 Off again, on again, we are still struggling with light winds and are starting to see the wear and tear appear as we do our daily inspections after trying to reef and make sail changes in the dark. A few new tears found in some reinforced areas of the main reef points. Not critical, but add it to the list. Secondly, the boom where it attaches to the mast have begun to grind against each other. We aren't sure what has caused the extra wiggle room to allow the grinding, or what caused the
grinding to allow the wiggle room. Again not critical, for now we've reinforced the bottom point with a washer and will do the real investigating once we've reached land and can fully remove the boom to inspect.

Day 10 The winds, though light, were consistent enough out of the ESE all day to fly the spinnaker. A ten hour run with our colors up will lift any spirits. Not to mention the forecast for stronger winds to fill in within the next day. Busy, busy night with great winds and lots of rainy squalls. As long as there is wind with it we don't care what falls out of the sky.

One of our neighbors out here, s/v Redwood Coast II has crossed our path within a mile 2 or 3 times now. That's rather remarkable when you are 1300 miles from anywhere. Nearly every boat out here as well has cast their lines to the water with the almost instant gratification of Dorado on the line. Knowing we still have a freezer full of meat, we can't quite rationalize catching more food, tasty though it may be. Truth be told, we still struggle a lot will killing the beautiful creatures. There
is nothing quite like seeing their wildly vivid blue, green and yellow colors literally drain from their body as they stop fighting. We on the other hand have kept our lines neatly on board and continued to catch our daily quota of unsuspecting flying fish. If they have the fortune of landing in the cockpit at night, they have a fighting chance of being returned to the sea, but if they land anywhere forward of the dodger, I'm afraid they are on their own.

The Kelly's on s/v Moorea gave us a half way crossing gift before we left. When the boys wake up I'm sure that's the first thing on their minds. I'll let you know what it was. Our pals Tom and Amy from s/v Sandpiper who just departed out of Las Palmas themselves have posted some footage of our departure. I hear they have quite a few great You Tube clips, check it out: sandpiper38.blogspot.com

So, though the butter never officially melted, it was soft enough for us. We're making our way west, have changed a couple time zones and are hoping that the trade winds fill in and the next ten days are going to be faster than the last.

Less than 2000 to go!

2008-12-07T00:28:00.000-08:00

December 7, 2008 1:45 am
coordinates 18 43.7758N,028 03.706W

Day 5 sunrise brought us the answer to the grey haze we seem to be living in. These easterly winds we realized are bringing loads of Sahara Sand. The particles hold the moisture and make for a real gray day. No wonder we had been sneezing in the middle of the ocean. Meanwhile, we are covered in the red stuff. The wind is holding steady as well as the barometer. Keep on, keeping on.

Day 6, we tried to start the water maker but no pressure. Not a good sign and a brief moment of anxiety. We fiddled around with it for a while and managed to get it working. It doesn't like to be run without the motor on and often builds a strange pressure up in it. Then that afternoon, the winds began to die as forecasted. We started up the motor only to hear it lug down and struggle. Bruce changed out a filter and then the engine died completely. She too likes to be used more frequently
and doesn't appreciate having to sit and wait her turn with all this wind. Changed a second filter and she too was happy. It was the second moment that day though that we briefly thought we were going to have to divert to Cape Verde. Now would be the best time to do that as well if needed because we are almost too far past it and any return would involve a lot of beating into weather. Never a fun chore.

The wind, thankfully, filled back in but is keeping us on our toes, with frequent 40 degree shifts. Blowing now at 10 to 20 knots rather than the 20 to 30 range, we have put more sail up and we continue to move right along. By 12 noon on the 6th we have pulled the last reef out of the main and are sailing with the jib, full main sail and stay sail. A new one for Ohana Kai. The sea state has lessened considerably but the swells still can't seem to make up their mind about which direction they would
like to come from. We did end up putting the reef back into the main sail only to quiet down the slapping. Light winds can actually do more damage sometimes than the big winds, when things start slopping around. Not to mention how difficult it makes it to take naps with the noise.

The butter may nearly be melting, we are down to t shirts and shorts during the daytime and blue sky is making longer and longer appearances.

Today we celebrate as well, because as of 2:30 am on the 6th, we crossed a magic line. 700 miles down and less than 2000 to go! Woo hoo! Celebrate all the victories, even the little ones.

Rolling, rolling, rolling!

2008-12-06T00:31:00.000-08:00

Day 4 & 5
December 5, 2008 5:09AM
coordinates 20 54.325N,024 22.205W

48 more hours of 20-30 knot winds out of the ESE have given us a couple of 155 nm per day. That's pretty good considering we are still running with the same tiny sail configurations of the staysail and a double reefed main. The sea state continues to be big or bigger, fluctuating with no apparent rhyme or reason. The sun has made a brief appearance for a few minutes each day but the majority of the time it has been an eerie solid gray sky from horizon to horizon.

Day 3 we crossed the 23rd latitude, the Tropic of Cancer. Amazing to think that many of the worlds deserts sit upon that line. We have been able to shed a layer. We are now down to a fleece vest and warm socks while on night watches instead of the complete fleece jacket and additional blanket, but the butter isn't melting yet. We've taken a few good waves into the cockpit, which managed to sneak their way into the boys cabin window and douse a comforter or two but not too badly. In the galley,
we managed to launched a pot of boiling potatoes but thankfully no casualties human or otherwise. The most difficult aspect of the situation so far is the incessant rocking and rolling, jerking and lurching of the boat. With the confused sea state, and the swells that continue to break upon the boat, the noise and inability to predict just which way to lean next is exhausting. Off watch naps are heavenly to get away from all the over stimulation.

Just how does one sleep on Mr. Toads Wild Ride anyway? There are a few methods. First there is the starfish technique. Lay face up or down, your preference, with your arms and legs spread wide to give you leverage. No matter which way the boat heels you are covered. But never fail, the boat will lean more frequently to the open side of the bed in which you will eventually slide off. You can put up a lee cloth to stop you but again, eventually you end up balled in the cloth and lose your starfish
advantage. Next technique, and most helpful on Ohana Kai, the mummy. With lee cloth in place, wedge large cushions and pillows all around you. Wrap yourself tight in your blanket and try to rest as now only your innards sway too and fro with the swell. Though it limits you wiggle room while you sleep, you are finally able to relax enough for a few hours and will gladly take any stiffness that may accompany this position. The third and less utilized tactic is the fetal position, perpendicular
to the bed. This position is helpful on single overnight when sleep is less critical and the swell far less active. The other essential item with any of these routines are ear plugs. Amazing little devices that, as they slowly expand to fill your ears, fade away the sounds of the world. No more rush of the water along the hull, the whirring of the wind generator, the water bombs that crash into the hull, the creaking of the mast, boom, sails and any other accessory rigging, the knocking and sliding
around of any item left not bolted to the ground. Remarkable, your ears are still tuned to hear the call of your crew members when things go wrong and they need your help.

Though it's difficult to get much accomplished with all the motion, we managed to put up our little Christmas tree and the boys have begun to decorate their room with snowflakes. Tomorrow's goal is to chop up our melon before it goes bad and maybe brave making some candied nuts. And we certainly haven't seemed to have lost our appetites either. We've managed to feast on hamburgers, hot dogs, spaghetti, and pork chops thus far. Though you get a great core workout trying to maintain any upright
position, we will atrophy everywhere else and watch our back sides spread out from all this fine feasting and sitting.

Rolling Right Along!

2008-12-03T00:49:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, December 3, 2008 2:30am
coordinates 24 06.453N,019 47.877W

All is well here just over two days into our crossing. Right now all we see is water but it is strange to think that the Sahara Desert is only 150 miles off the left side of the boat. We ended up having some nice wind to sail us out of Las Palmas which was a nice treat. That lasted about 8 hours then became a motor boat ride for nearly the next day. The winds were forecasted to be filling in nicely so we waited, and fill in they have. We have seen winds from about 15 to 35 knots but averaging
around 20 out of the ENE for the last 24 hours, and we're averaging about 6.5 knots. It feels much like Santa's Sleigh ride, swooping up one side of the waves and racing down the other. Unfortunately boats don't go very straight when the swell and waves come from a variety of directions. So it feel a bit more like being on a tilt-a-whirl. Add that with Santa's sleigh and you have Mr. Toads Wild Ride. Originally we had full canvas up but have settled back down to a double reef in the main and
the storm sail set up wing-on-wing. This means that the head sail is pulled out to the left with a pole and the main sail off to the right. We look a bit like an uneven butterfly. It helps to lower our center of gravity and cutting down a little bit on the roll and keeps us prepared if the winds pick up suddenly. only supposed to last a few days before going light again so we are trying to get as far as we can on it. We couldn't as for a nicer start.

It is currently 2:30am, Bruce and the boys are asleep and I, Lisa, am on watch. Every boat out here has a slightly different watch schedule depending on their needs. We have settled in on a bit longer watches than most. I sleep from 8pm to 1am while Bruce is on watch, then Bruce sleeps from 1am to 6am while I am on watch. We swap and do it all over again. There are a few hours during the day when we are both awake, especially around dinner. The boys do school in the morning by themselves until
I wake up and then we try to do the rest together. Every night we eat dinner together and watch a movie. We are on to our Christmas traditions now which means a new Christmas movie every night. Matthew is making a red and green Christmas chain this year but instead of ripping off each day, he adds a new one on for the crossing. It helps us keep track of the days at sea and we'll be nicely decorated when we arrive, hopefully before Christmas. On their down time, the boys get two hours of screen
time, be it computer, game boy or video game. The rest of their down time is reading or playing games like cards, chess, legos, battleship, etc. Every so many days we get to take a shower while sitting on the back of the boat. If we run the engine, we get warm water but the wind cools you down quick.

The Kelly's on s/v Moorea are just about 60nm behind us. Along with a motor vessel named Kosmos and a trimaran named Redwood Coast that we have met, also from US, are just about to scoot past us out there somewhere to the west. And much to my surprise another s/v that has been keeping good pace with us named Sun Chaser from Sweden just hailed me on the VHF to wish me a quiet night shift. Lastly, an Australian boat that we met back in Gibraltar are about 590 miles south of us as they just departed
out of Cape Verde. We are all trying to make landfall somewhere around Port Marin, Martinique. I mention all these boats only because they are our small link to other humans voices right now. We hold radio nets each morning and evening to check in on each other. We exchange our coordinates, discuss what the movie and meal dujour are. If anyone is in need, then there are at least of few of us out here to help. If any one at home happens to be a Hammy let us know. Maybe we can set up a time
to chat!

So we're settling in nicely to the routine. Everyone is feeling great and watching the days click by.

Go One, Go All!

2008-11-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

Sunday November 30th, 2008
Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

The day of departure for our Atlantic crossing has finally come. We have filled every nook and cranny with food, topped up on fuel, finished the last load of laundry, repaired, replaced or rendered every project that needed to be done. The exception for that would be the new head sail. That project never came to fruition so we'll roll along with our newly 13 patched marvel, attach the storm sail and hope for a nice down wind run. Though there is visibly no wind around here at the moment, we may have to motor out a day before it fills in. Then according to our weather faxes it's filling in nicely out of the NNE. Just the way we like it. As the old sailing adage goes, "Sail south until the butter melts, then head west". This is supposed to be the best way to find the trade winds that are to take you off to the Caribbean. Again though, according to our weather faxes, it ain't quite filling in yet. The risk of waiting too long is that we might not make landfall before Christmas and we would like to avoid that. If we get stuck in the doldrums it could take a really long time. 2700 miles to go and we carry enough fuel to make it roughly 160 motoring hours, or about 7 days, so we certainly want to conserve that as much as we can.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially ends tomorrow. 2008 proved to be a record breaker as the weather officials had predicted. For the first time on record, six consecutive tropical cyclones (Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike) made landfall on the US mainland and a record three major hurricanes (Gustav, Ike and Paloma) struck Cuba. This is also the first Atlantic season to have a major hurricane (Category 3) form in five consecutive months (July: Bertha, August: Gustav, September: Ike, October: Omar, November: Paloma). Now that it's over on paper, let's just hope mother nature realizes this and doesn't throw in a late in the game hit like 2005 which delivered one after Christmas. We always pray for wind, but now we're going to be specific, not too much, not too little. Picky aren't we.

Go one, go all! So there are many ways to get across on ocean or around the world. You can single hand it like the competitors in the Vendee Globe Challenge. They solo sail their 60 ft. beauties easterly around the world. They departed from France in November, with their newest technologies and designs they are even trying to set records of making it around the world in 80 days! Then there is the mass exodus of the ARC or Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. A rally, as the name suggests, promotes strength in numbers. Numbers they certainly have, 240 of them. We wished them well and waved them off as they departed out of Gran Canaria last Sunday for their own Atlantic crossing. What a zoo that was. For many it is their first ocean crossing, for some, repeat offenders. We are sure we'll be seeing many of them once we have reached the other side.

For us, this crossing is the beginning of the end in some ways. Our last major puddle jump. We can hardly believe that 8 months ago we were working our way across the Indian Ocean and in 8 months time we are likely to be back at home. 4 years in the blink of an eye. It is a dream journey to be on. We will be sending out regular journal entries to this mail list and the blog site. You can also track our daily position from the tracking link on the front page of our web site. With all this time on our hands, hopefully we will catch up the web site and upload the last few countries at our next internet connection. Time will certainly be on our side, lets hope the wind and waves play along.

So that's it. Feel free to write us any time. We love to stay connected. We'll be thinking of you all while you chop down those Christmas trees and shop till you drop. See you on the other side!

Won't you join us and ... Sail on!

Out of the Med

2008-11-14T00:17:00.001-08:00

Sunday October 19,2008
Atlantic Ocean
coordinates 34 40.863N,007 26.748E

All is well on Ohana Kai and we have finally broke free of the Mediterranean Sea and have crept/beat our way out the Straight of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic Ocean en route to the Canary Islands. It has been an amazing month since we last wrote to you. We covered two more countries, and most importantly had a spectacular visit with Lisa's parents.
The quick recap...
Departed Italy end of August with a two day stop over in Porto Pollo, Sardinia for some windsurfing and skim boarding.
3 overnights to reach Barcelona Spain, find the heaven of a marina in Port Forum. First week we spent preparing for our company. Lisa's parents were coming for a good long visit and the boat needed some loving before their arrival. The main sail, the dodger and biminy made their way to the sail repair shop for a pricey but much needed and well done overhaul. New zippers, new seams and patches all around. Lisa's parents, Nonnie and Nonno to the boys, have had the opportunity to visit Ohana Kai
in ports of Mexico, New Zealand and Thailand but this time they wanted to become a part of the crew and do some real sailing. So we broke them in right away. We had them doing sewing repair jobs on the dock, and hiking it with their backpacks on to the market and back for provisioning runs. Our smallest crew member Matthew did hit double digits and celebrated his 10th birthday the same week. So we took time out to see a bit of Barcelona, the aquarium and Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada
Familia is a fascinating and wondrous cathedral dreamt up and designed by Gaudi. He has an amazing ability to incorporate nature as he sees it into every curve and point, copula and pillar he creates.

Our goal with our new crew members on board was to reach Gibraltar. In the Mediterranean you are truly at the mercy of the wind gods and you may or may not find the right weather windows to get where you want in time. They can get angry at a moments notice, sending fierce winds and stay angry as long as they feel like it. So when you see a weather window you take it an run. We took Nonnie and Nonno for their first day off the docks and gave them an exuberant sail with 20+ knot winds and square
seas and an overnight sail. We tucked them each into a corner of the boat and they did great. We made our way out to the Balaeras Islands to see what we could see. A quick stop at Menorca and Mallorca let us all stretch our legs, view some lovely piazzas, cave formations and taste some more pizza. With their sea legs a little stronger we decided to make the big push back toward the mainland. The winds were perfect so we blew right past Ibiza and in the middle of the night very unceremoniously
crossed back into the Western Hemisphere. Our new crew members braved a double overnighter this time and we sailed for Cartagena, arriving at the Yacht Port Marina, just in time for the Romano y Cartagenian festival. Tribes of men dressed in costume and walking the street performing mock battles, was great fun to see. We walked a beautiful esplanade, designed for foot traffic only, each evening. It was always graced with young and old and while you strolled sights, sounds and tastes filled your
every sense. We really began to get the hang of tapas bars, or snacky dinners as the boys call them. Small plates of tasty morsels you point and order, consume and converse with your companions.

The next four days were a succession of long day hops, motoring and sailing each night, stopping at an anchorage or marina in this order: Ensenada de Terreros, a rolly but protected from the wind anchorage;
Club de Mar in Almeria, a nice port side tie for us, showers, dinner and some internet;
Puerto de Motril, another port side tie to a very high sided concrete public quay, they unfortunately charge for the days you touch the quay not the 24 hour period and though we are actually there for less than 12 hours we have to pay for 2 days, no amenities to speak of, we're not happy;
Maribella Marina, we believe we have entered the smaller and less official of the two marina's available here, hopefully for a smaller price, they squeeze us in and we end up staying for two days and having the gin rummy marathon of the year while we wait for a storm to pass. Whew!

Though we are told we are traveling in the driest part of Spain we had seen only rain and grey skies for days. We made the final push for the Rock of Gibraltar in rain and thunder,lumpy and large square seas with lots of wind behind us. Our new crew was earning their stripes on this trip. We wove our way through massive container ships that anchor due east of the Rock as they await their turn to round the point and refuel. Rounding Europa Point, we are thankful to be out of the fray and made our
way to the Spanish Anchorage in the north of the bay. The border between Spain and Gibraltar is just next to a fully functioning and (noisy) official airport runway that you get to walk across any time you need to cross the border. The next day we found a place in Marina Bay Marina and planned our inland trip to see the Rock and Seville, Spain. We visited the macaque apes, the WWII tunnels and the St. Michaels Cathedral built into caves within the Rock of Gibraltar. In Seville, we had a marvelous
time and we saw everything; Andalucian Horses, flamingo dancers, every piazza, plaza and cathedral. We viewed the points where some of the greatest navigators in Magellan and Columbus likely departed for their journeys and meandered our own daily treks through cobble stone streets. Best of all we enjoyed every minute possible with our Nonnie and Nonno and we salute them for their over 650 nautical mile journey on the s/v Ohana Kai.

I hope to expand upon each of these parts of the trip on the blog soon. The web site is updated through Greece so enjoy. and our true position is updated daily on the tracker link. We were able to ride out the storm in Gibraltar fairly well. Only minor bumps and bruises for Bruce to repair. It was a force 11, which on the Beaufort Wind scale is one step below a hurricane. The worst storm Gibraltar has ever seen, depending on who you speak to. Many boats didn't fair so well and it's heart breaking
to only be able to sit by and watch destruction happen. I can only describe it like riding one of those mechanical bulls while tied to a concrete pier. No sleep that night but much to be thankful for. We enjoyed our time but we are ready to be done with the Med for the season. Looking forward to making landfall in the Canary Islands in just a few days.

Ghosts and things that go bump in the night.

2008-11-14T00:17:00.000-08:00

October 31, 2008
Puerto Naos, Isla Lanzarote
coordinates 28 58.040N,013 32.178W

We had enjoyed our stay at Playa Francesca, Isla Graciosa. A tiny island with it's four old volcano cones, we had climbed and conquered one of them. The town provided us with some much needed produce and bread. The beach provided many opportunities for a sand forts and a bon fire. The weather was predicted to turn with winds out of the west making this location untenable so on we went. All 12 boats or so anchored here made the morning run to the next island of Lanzarote.

Puerto Naos, a fishing harbor afforded great protection and it was free. The guides we are using, we must keep in mind, are over 10 years old so we are never sure what we will find in the next location compared to what the text says. The channel marked into the harbor claims very shallow waters outside it's borders. We scoped it out, found what we though to be a suitable place to anchor amongst the smaller fishing vessels and prepared to wait out the winds. The Kelly's anchored a stone's throw
away decided to try to surprise us for Halloween, dressed as ghosts actually managed to climb aboard Ohana Kai without us even noticing. Great fun. We exchanged sugary goodies and chatted about the last 3 years. Specifically, we talked about how many times we had each run aground or hit something. The number is not important, you just don't want to be winning that contest with the highest number. As all good sailing stories go, we had jinxed ourselves. Not a half hour later, with everyone snug
in their boats, crunch, crunch, crunch. The tide was dropping much more than we had expected. We are back in the world of 2-3 meter tide changes. Luckily it sounds much worse than it is. The noise created when the keel grates the bottom will curl your toes and make your heart skip a beat but no damage done. We pulled up a bit of chain and gained a bit more depth. A few minutes later, across the radio waves, the Kelly's called out, "One more to the list", they bumped too. We continued to try
to anchor and reanchor over the next 4 days in this tight and crowded little space as the holding was crummy, and the space a minimum. Trying to not slide back onto unsuspecting neighbors with the increasing winds was the name of the game. We succeeded.

Much more fun was the discovery of an IKEA on this tiny little island. Who knew! We treated ourselves to some Swedish Meatballs and everyone got to pick out a treat to take home. Kelly girl got a new apron, Kelly boy, Tristan and Matthew each new pillows, Bruce got a jar of yummy Lingonberry sauce, Lisa a new cutting board and for Ohana Kai a sweet smelling new candle just in time for the holidays.
Then the big event! It's official, we have a teenager on board! Tristan turned 13 on November 2nd. As requested a small but fun pirate party was held in his honor, everyone in full dress with bandanas, parrots, hooks for hands. We ate popcorn cannon balls and of course watched Pirates of the Caribbean.

The winds were back in our favor so we made our way down to the next island of Fuerteventura.
coordinates 28 44.350N,013 51.830W
Tucked on the northern shore between Los Lobos, we were in search of surf. The unseasonable high winds and cool weather have been thwarting our adventures a bit. Bruce has been the only one, along with Kelly boy, to brave the waters with their thickest wet suits and catch a few waves. Apparently the rest of us hot house flowers are waiting more fair conditions. Until then we'll continue to explore the unique old volcanic landscapes and spanish style towns of the Canary Islands.

Lastly, we had the great fun of reuniting part of the Lawur crew with Ohana Kai. Our dear friend Robert was in London on business and managed to hop over to see us for a quick stay. It was just like old times and the wind even cooperated giving him a perfect 2 days of sailing. We miss our old cruising friends a ton.

Isla Graciosa, Canary Islands

2008-10-31T07:35:00.000-07:00

October 30, 2008
Isla Graciosa, Canary Islands
coordinates 29 13.144N,013 31.621W

A decent crossing from Gibraltar, we had a mixed bag of wind and weather. As we departed the rock we had light winds against us, which then led to two days of motoring, no wind and then two days of 20 knots from behind. Bits of rain and lightning accompanied the trip but all went well. We arrived at the southern end of the little island of Isla Graciosa, Canary Islands at sunrise on the 23rd and tucked ourselves in tight on the southern end of the island with about a dozen other boats. Realizing
that we are at the same latitude as Baja California, that would certainly help you picture our surroundings. The islands are low lying, dry wind blown areas covered with the occasional shrub and sand dunes with the exception of 4 old volcano cones that are left over from long ago. The colors of the dirt that make them up are quite colorful though with swirls of various browns, golds and yellows. The tiny town that survives here looks a bit like a cross between Greece and Baja. Low lying pueblos,
white washed with bright blue shutters. The people ashore aren't quite as warm and welcoming here though. The native language is Spanish but they do speak English as well. There is a slight hint of tourism here as a daily glass bottom boat delivers people to the beach each day to play despite what the weather might say.

The weather here is a mixed bag as well, unable to make up it's mind sometimes minute to minute. 30 knots of wind to nothing, torrential down pour to sunny blue skies with fluffy blue clouds. The water is about 68 degrees but with the wind can chill you to the bone quickly. The boys are enjoying the beach time and the hikes to town or up the volcano crater are providing some good exercise and shore time. We have met a few new boats as well from Australia with children aboard which is great fun
for Tristan and Matthew. You forget just how little "kid" time they have and with such few children lately. Mom and Dad are great fun but I don't think we quite qualify to fill that "kid" position.

Though we don't have the internet that we fast became attached to in Gibraltar, we have reunited with our BBC and Voice of America radio programs that broadcast daily on our Ham radio. They will even be doing a live broadcast on November 4th at 22:00 UTC (or 10:00pm here in the Canaries), approximately 2pm Pacific time so we will be able to track the election results with the nation. It's an amazing time to be alive around this PLANET, and maybe, just maybe, we'll all begin to realize just how
connected we all are.

Out of the Med

2008-10-31T00:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday October 19,2008
Atlantic Ocean
coordinates 34 40.863N,007 26.748E

All is well on Ohana Kai and we have finally broke free of the Mediterranean Sea and have crept/beat our way out the Straight of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic Ocean en route to the Canary Islands. It has been an amazing month since we last wrote to you. We covered two more countries, and most importantly had a spectacular visit with Lisa's parents.
The quick recap...
Departed Italy end of August with a two day stop over in Porto Pollo, Sardinia for some windsurfing and skim boarding.
3 overnights to reach Barcelona Spain, find the heaven of a marina in Port Forum. First week we spent preparing for our company. Lisa's parents were coming for a good long visit and the boat needed some loving before their arrival. The main sail, the dodger and biminy made their way to the sail repair shop for a pricey but much needed and well done overhaul. New zippers, new seams and patches all around. Lisa's parents, Nonnie and Nonno to the boys, have had the opportunity to visit Ohana Kai
in ports of Mexico, New Zealand and Thailand but this time they wanted to become a part of the crew and do some real sailing. So we broke them in right away. We had them doing sewing repair jobs on the dock, and hiking it with their backpacks on to the market and back for provisioning runs. Our smallest crew member Matthew did hit double digits and celebrated his 10th birthday the same week. So we took time out to see a bit of Barcelona, the aquarium and Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada
Familia is a fascinating and wondrous cathedral dreamt up and designed by Gaudi. He had an amazing ability to incorporate nature as he saw it into every curve and point, copula and pillar he created.

Our goal with our new crew members on board was to reach Gibraltar. In the Mediterranean you are truly at the mercy of the wind gods and you may or may not find the right weather windows to get where you want in time. They can get angry at a moments notice, sending fierce winds and stay angry as long as they feel like it. So when you see a weather window you take it and run. We took Nonnie and Nonno for their first day off the docks and gave them an exuberant sail with 20+ knot winds and square
seas and an overnight sail. We tucked them each into a corner of the boat and they did great. We made our way out to the Balaeras Islands to see what we could see. A quick stop at Menorca and Mallorca let us all stretch our legs, view some lovely piazzas, cave formations and taste some more pizza. With their sea legs a little stronger we decided to make the big push back toward the mainland. The winds were perfect so we blew right past Ibiza and in the middle of the night very unceremoniously
crossed back into the Western Hemisphere. Our new crew members braved a double overnighter this time and we sailed for Cartagena, arriving at the Yacht Port Marina, just in time for the Romano y Cartagenian festival. Tribes of men dressed in costume and walking the street performing mock battles, was great fun to see. We walked a beautiful esplanade, designed for foot traffic only, each evening. It was always graced with young and old and while you strolled sights, sounds and tastes filled your
every sense. We really began to get the hang of tapas bars, or snacky dinners as the boys call them. Small plates of tasty morsels you point and order, consume and converse with your companions.

The next four days were a succession of long day hops, motoring and sailing, stopping at an anchorage or marina in this order: Ensenada de Terreros, a rolly but protected from the wind anchorage;
Club de Mar in Almeria, a nice port side tie for us, showers, dinner and some internet;
Puerto de Motril, another port side tie to a very high sided concrete public quay, they unfortunately charge for the days you touch the quay not the 24 hour period and though we are actually there for less than 12 hours we have to pay for 2 days, no amenities to speak of, we're not happy;
Maribella Marina, we believe we have entered the smaller and less official of the two marina's available here, hopefully for a smaller price, they squeeze us in and we end up staying for two days and having the gin rummy marathon of the year while we wait for a storm to pass. Whew!

I hope to expand upon each of these parts of the trip on the blog soon. The web site is updated through Greece so enjoy. and our true position is updated daily on the tracker link. We were able to ride out the storm in Gibraltar fairly well. Only minor bumps and bruises for Bruce to repair. It was a force 11, which on the Beaufort Wind scale is one step below a hurricane. The worst storm Gibraltar has ever seen, depending on whom you speak to. Many boats didn't fair so well and it's heart breaking
to only be able to sit by and watch destruction happen. I can only describe it like riding one of those mechanical bulls while tied to a concrete pier. No sleep that night but much to be thankful for. We enjoyed our time but we are ready to be done with the Med for the season. Looking forward to making landfall in the Canary Islands in just a few days.

When in Rome

2008-09-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

August 27, 2008
departing Fiumicino for Sardinia, Italy
coordinates 41 46.307N,012 14.252E

After our exciting entrance to Fiumicino, we were happy to find more safe haven up the channel and under two lifting bridges. Boats tied up three deep on either side of the channel, we found the Constellation Nautica, a marina in name sake only. There are quite a few boat yards available, free internet and showers for a tie up fee of 30 Euros a day. A perfect place to use for our home base to head in to see Rome.

After a bit of walking in circles we found an unmarked bus stop that sits nearly across the street from the marina. The bus that arrives at 10 and 40 minutes after the hour will give you a free ride to the Leonardo di Vinci Airport where you can then purchase a metro ticket for 11 Euros, that no one will check, but will take you directly to the center of downtown Rome. We dropped of our backpacks in our hotel room and hit the ground running! By the end of the afternoon we had covered the Colosseum,
the Roman Forum and part of Capitolene. Still to cheap to pay for a guide we enjoyed the sights on our own. So much information there so will give one of our favorite facts, they used to fill the Colosseum up with water and stage naval battles there! There are some interesting open air bus rides that can give you an all access ride around Rome, and different price scales on the metro, but with a strong pair of legs and a bit of determination, we can attest that one can cover the whole thing on
foot as well.

The first item on the agenda was the Piazza di Bernini situated just down from the US Embassy to get more pages placed in our passports. From there we headed straight for Vatican City and decided that if ever there was a place to splurge for a guide this was it. Lorna, from the east coast of US was our spectacular guide and worth every cent. Her professionalism along with her fun personality, great story telling ability and keeping the boys included and engaged was magnificent. We learned so
much within the walls of the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, the crypts, St. Peter's Basilica, absolutely awe inspiring and had fun all along the way. Viewing the works of Michelangelo, Rafael, Bernini, Dali and so many more is a very special feeling. Calling them masters is an understatement. Again, history comes to life before our eyes. That afternoon we head for the bone church decorated entirely out of 4000 monks skeletal remains, intriguingly creepy. We counted the number of Spanish
steps at Piazza di Spagna and then enjoyed a cool and peaceful moment within the walls of The Church of the Trinita dei Monti, viewing the Volterra masterpiece fresco of the "Decent from the Cross".

Next day we made our way over to the Piazza Venezia and the Vittoriano, topped by the equestrian statue of the king and colossal bronze chariots, one can also view the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier there. Over to the Fontana di Trevi, water gushing from every point of decorated bas-reliefs and statues. We tossed our own coins in ensuring a safe return to Rome some day. We spent considerable time within the Pantheon, just taking in the grandeur that still stands today as the city's only architecturally
intact monument from the classic times. Built by Agrippa and redesigned by Hadrian in the 3rd century. The remains of many of Italy's most famous Kings and artists buried here including Rafael himself. The simple dome design, powerful marble columns and the open oculous in the ceiling seems are a vision to behold. Up the road a little farther you find the Piazza Navona and the Fountain of Rivers. It's shape traces the Stadium of Domitian where the long oval site once held 30,000 spectators to
watch chariot rides and naval battles. Another half dozen blocks and across the river is the Castle Sant'Angelo. Favorite fact, it contained the famous passetto or passageway, built by Pope Nicholas III in 1277. The corridor ran atop a wall that encircled the Vatican and led to the castle afforded the pope a safe walk way between the two.

One of the last items we found so interesting all throughout Rome was the omnipresent Egyptian Obelisk. Each one brought over by various emperors or Popes of the time they can be found in the Vatican, the Pantheon, and nearly every other Piazza we visited. Covered by their typical hieroglyphics they have a beauty of their own but seem so out of place here.
Whew, just scratching the surface here we look forward to returning someday for a much deeper look.

A Port in a Storm

2008-09-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

August 15th, 2009
Fiumicino, Italy
coordinates 41 46.220N,012 13.521E

We departed the Pontine Islands to head for safer anchorages because our weather faxes indicated that some severe winds were coming. We decided to head towards Rome and kill two birds with one stone. We had a full day sail of a beautiful wing on wing, down wind run. By the middle of the afternoon the winds began to pick up and come around out of the north. It appeared as though the forecasted gale was coming a day early. We headed for our first choice, a marina in Anzio. The guide books stated
in calm weather one could anchor just outside but that clearly wasn't going to be an option this day. The seas at this point were already stacking up and as we neared the entrance something felt all wrong.

In the states the saying is "red right returning", which simply means that the red buoy markers should be kept to your right or starboard side as you enter a marina. In much of the rest of the world it is the opposite, green markers are kept to your right as you enter marinas but clearly the waters were looking much too shallow on that side to enter. Desperate to get out of the increasing winds and seas we slowly made our way but quickly figured out the markers here were wrong. A large series
of waves began to carry us toward the entrance and we watched the depth meter drop, 10 feet, 9, 8, 7, we draw 6.8 feet. The large waves then proceeded to pick us up and pile drive us into the sand bottom like a new WWF wrestling move. We saw 5.5 feet. Three times we hit harder than ever before. Driving the engine as strong as she could go we utilized the next series of breaking waves to wiggle off and get out of there. Checked the bilge, not taking on water, we began our motor up the coast for
another 3 hours in search of an alternative.

The next marina we came across had 6-10 foot breaking waves running perpendicular to the channel, the wind speeds now 30-35 knots. We called the manager to ask the safety of the entrance and before looking out his window said it should be no trouble. Upon looking out his window he called back and said it was our call, i.e. he is taking no responsibility when we crash upon his rocks. We witnessed a large luxury power yacht try to negotiate the channel. With all it's power, bow thrusters and extra
engines it got tossed around within the channel like a rubber duck in a whirlpool. We watched it get turned 90 degrees when hit by waves not once but twice inside a channel no wider than itself, and breaking waves splash OVER it's 18-20 foot profile. It made it in but we got our answer, we weren't.

Last chance, another hour up the road was the Fiumicino Channel. The winds were now up to 45 knots and blowing out of the due west, the seas steep and confused. The depths around the shores were only 45 feet adding to the ability of these waves to stack up at the entrance of this channel, which of course also runs due west to east. It was going to be our only opportunity for a safe haven for the night or we would have to try to hove to and wait the storm out in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Even with the advantage the longer day, it was now nearing 9 pm and the sun was beginning to set. We tried repeatedly to contact the marina within to no avail. It was going to be all or nothing now.

We lined up with the entrance, setting ourselves between the very steep and very close set waves, 10-12 foot waves every 6-10 seconds apart. The channel entrance, though large enough and clearly marked, was now nearly impossible to distinguish. When we were in between the waves, from the bottom of the trough you couldn't see it any more and no longer knew if we were lined up appropriately. Due to the steep degree of the waves, steering the boat down the face is incredible difficult and once you
begin to turn out of it there is no controlling the ability to go straight again. If you aren't lined up properly, you may end up on the concrete breakers.

We placed all four of us, with our life jackets on, either sitting in the cockpit or near the entrance so if we needed to get out of the boat quickly we would all have a clear access. We let a set of waves pass by and then made our attempt. Lined up and ready to, no longer able to see the entrance, a wave picked us up and we started in. Afraid we were too far to the left and going to hit the breaker the boat was hit by a wave and began to turn left so we finished tried to steer our way out and
waited for a smaller set. We cleared the breaker and lined up for a second run. There were no smaller sets so we lined up for our second attempt. There are no words to describe the feeling when you look behind you and see a sheer wall of water, picking you up and sending you down a path you aren't sure where it will end. Looking in front of you seeing only the back side of it's sister wave. We were reaching speeds of 14 knots down the face but this time we felt we had a good line up and continued
to ride each succeeding wave right down into the channel. No more discussions, no more instructions, just quiet prayers that nothing would happen to our family or our home. Just a safe landing, please.

We made our way down the channel and the waves began to give way to what was more like confused seas inside a channel, but with the boat in neutral we were still speeding along at 5 knots down the 500 yard long stretch. A large fishing boat was sitting perpendicular at the end of the channel. What we also hadn't realized, until this point, was that we had amassed quite an audience who by this point were yelling and cheering us on. Arms waving and clapping, thumbs up all around! Afraid we weren't
going to be able to slow down in time, Bruce began to negotiate the boat to spin it around and at least face into the wind so we could have more control. The rest of the crew sprung into action to get fenders and dock lines ready. Then we realized a few of the people on the docks were the Coast Guard and had then begun to wave us into an opening on the side of the channel that emptied into a small marina and the Coast Guard Station. We maneuvered our way in and they proceeded to tie us right up
to their Coast Guard ship. No less than 8 of these marvelous men took over tying us off, made sure were all ok. They let us know they all thought we were crazy and then, bless their hearts, took us in and gave us a wonderful dinner, warm showers and lots of fun story swapping. Many thanks Cmdr. Julio Cavalo, Cmdr. Joseph Bufalini and their whole crew of the Fiumicino Coast Guard. We spent a wonderful night, yet still tumultuous due to the storm, tied up to the safest place in the marina.

Our "crazy" escapade won us a bit of fame for the following week, people would still give us thumbs up if they happened to recognize us or our boat. Even when you are prepared sometimes there is no avoiding the weather. Next time, we'll talk about what to do "when in Rome".

The challenges of Italy

2008-08-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

August 14th, 2008
Isole di Ponza
coordinates 40 54.265N,012 57.832E

The challenge is that, surprisingly, this is the first country where relatively few people speak English. Or if they do, they choose not too. When they realize we don't speak enough Italian, I swear they speak faster waiting for us to kick into gear and all of a sudden comprehension will roll over our faces. The boys think it is hilarious to watch their mothers face as comprehension never quite appears. It is easy enough to point and use our limited Italian when ordering food, but it is another
story when trying to find places to anchor. The second factor of the great challenge.

After leaving Stromboli a couple weeks ago we made our way up the coast line looking for decent places to anchor and explore the mainland. The potential anchorages are few and far between up this side of the coast. Our plans and their back ups not always working. We were often finding ourselves still desperately searching as the sun set. Not a position you want to be in when sailing around a foreign country. Sometimes this equation ends up costing a lot of money as when our back up plan included
what was to be a tiny run down fishing marina but turned out to be a brand new fancy, Marina di Stabia, costing us 130 Euros a night. OUCH!

We eventually find spots suitable but have had some very rolly nights, such as anchored off the lovely town of Positano. From the water it has amazing charm, with all the buildings tucked into a rocky valley. Climbing up the mountainside and utilizing every inch, it is covered in colorful homes and verandas over looking the sea. From the shore it is an equally amazing tourist spot. Every one of the charming buildings lining those charming winding roads was actually an expensive boutique just
waiting to separate you from your Euro. We are quickly learning a few tricks to hold on to our Euro's a little longer. Number one, order all your food for take out. There is a little fee they tack on to your meal and it seems to be arbitrary as to the percentage of the take out fee. One day we spent as much to sit and eat the pizza as the pizza itself cost.

While we were in that spendy marina we decided to make a quick run into Pompeii and it was fascinating. As a kid I think we always pictured it as a few people and homes partially uncovered but it is a full standing, sprawling city. Entire mosaic floors, giant stone grinders for making flour at the bakery, public baths, and beautiful frescos still intact. They had raised cross walks out of giant stones so the locals didn't have to step down into the street with the donkeys and the equivalent of
water fountains at nearly each corner in town to refresh yourself. Entire neighborhoods, a local theater and stadium where the gladiators honed their talents still stands tall. We did later see on CNN that they are concerned with the state of the ruins and if not cared for better will disintegrate rapidly in the future. We think it would be fun to see it come back to life like Old Colonial Williamsburg. Quickly, we made haste through the ruins since we couldn't afford to spend another night in
that marina. Again, we struggled with the local metro system since no seemed to be able to tell us if or where the closest stop was to our marina. Though we started only 3-4 miles away from the marina we now found ourselves 2 miles in the opposite direction. Nothing a brisk walk won't do for you.

Along with all the water loving Italians who are on vacation this month, we really enjoyed the islands off the coast of Naples. Isola di Ischia, Ventitene and Ponza were delightful anchorages despite the throngs of people flocking to their favorite get-away's. The only down moment would come when Lisa jumped off the dinghy one day onto a boat ramp, missed her footing, falling flat on her right cheek and knocking herself out cold momentarily. A blazing headache, a beautiful black eye and a mumps
like profile were all she had to show for it. Luckily, no broken bones sustained nor stitches needed. It is quite a conversation starter though, with the locals always giving Bruce the questioning glance. Poor guy.

From here, our weather faxes indicated that the winds were really going to be picking up so we wanted to get somewhere comfortable before they arrived in a few days. We set out for Rome the next day. Next time I'll let you know what happens when the gale arrives early.

Tyrrhenian Sea

2008-08-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

Tyrrhenian Sea
August 7th, 2008
coordinates 39 59.932N,015 25.721E

At least from the water side point of view, Italy lives up to it's romantic visions of terraced hillsides and fertile grounds, villas hidden in between the larger towns of apartments and hotels and the drier rocky mountains. The water is much warmer than the Ionian Sea at a balmy 82 degrees and the air a very warm 90 degrees with just enough humidity to make you wish for a bit more wind. The hazy days make way each afternoon for ominous thunder clouds over the land that occasionally create enough
noise and even visible lightning to make you think they might get to you, but they don't. The smaller more quaint, quiet and yet untouched towns look much like Greece with their colorful red and purple bouganvilla and geraniums, perched on blue covered porches and doorways.
August, we have heard, is when all of Europe goes on vacation, and we would have to add to that, they all own a water craft of some sort and flock to the sea. They race out at sunrise and don't retreat until sundown, which is near 10:00pm. It is wonderful to see them take advantage of the time they have to share together and the resources at their feet.
We have managed thus far to avoid the expensive marinas and found plenty of comfortable and safe anchorages to lay our own hook.
We had the fortune of making our way through the Straight of Messina with the current rather than against. It can get up to 4 knots in there. Homer wrote of Odysseus in the Odyssey, fearing the great sea monsters here. Scillia had long legs that sucked vessels and sea creatures right up into the sky and Charybdis swallowed them down into the ocean. In truth is it possible that water spouts could have occurred in the straight when the winter storms and gales are howling seeming to suck them into
the sky. There was a whirl pool, the guide book states, under the town of Scillia created by the strong currents could wreak havoc on unwary ships but in an earthquake in 1783, changes the underwater topography lessened it to menacing eddies.
From Messina we made a bee line to Stromboli Island, home to yet another perpetually active volcano. It experienced a large eruption in 2002-2003 that caused a large strip of the western side to slide into the ocean. Flowing and spewing lava and ash into the sky and sinking into the water as well, helped to create a 10 meter tsunami that covered the shores of Stromboli itself and Sicily. Today it sends out mild smoke signals at regular intervals visible during the day and exciting fireworks displays
of lava and red hot boulders at night. The island, still inhabited enjoys it's fame and runs a very nice little tourist industry of it's own there. Understated but getting the job done, you can take day time and evening hikes to the crater's edge to view the show. Free to anchor there, we were happy to watch from the water.
Back to the main land we have dotted our way up the coast as we head toward Naples. Our stay last night at Punta di Degli Infreschi was a very popular spot with the locals for a day get away with fun caves to swim into and explore. Likely 40 some odd boats crammed themselves in this cove for a delightful stay only to find the Ohana Kai Klampets already on a mooring there hanging all their laundry out to dry. Lovely. Upward we go toward Naples, Vesuvius and Pompeii.

Buon Giorno!

2008-08-02T22:44:00.001-07:00

August 2, 2008
Italy
coordinates 38 13.753N,016 21.021E

Buon Giorno,
We wrapped up our stay in Greece by taking a week to relax around the islands of Lefkada and Meganisi. We spent a few days provisioning on the north end near the marina. These islands are reminiscent of Tonga due to the sheer numbers of charter boats milling around the waters. The calm flat crystal clear waters and wonderful consistent wind between the islands provide the perfect cruising grounds and quiet get away's for people from Europe. The Onassis family owns a private island tucked in the
middle which of course draws everyone to sail by for a peak. So much for privacy. On the south end of Lefkada is the bay of Vasiliki, wind surf heaven. A large bay, it is perfectly calm until about 1pm where nearly every afternoon the wind whips up on cue. Hundreds of wind surfers can be seen skimming back and forth the waters. We decided they look like little leaf cutter ants diligently marching back and forth carrying their prized possession across the water. Bruce even had chance to join
in on the fun.

We waited for the right weather window and slipped across the Ionian Sea to make landfall in Cape Rizzuto, Italy, down between the toe and heel of the boot. The greeks had colonized the southern part of Italy and Sicily around 11BC creating the Magna Graecia Era which attracted many great philosophers such as Homer and Pythagoras to spend decades here. One lovely overnight sail 10-20 knot winds N/NW and we arrived. A few dolphins ushered us into the country. One night on anchor and the second night
we moved down to Roche Ionica and found a free marina and our first slice of thin crust pizza. Delicious, we have traded in our cravings for feta to mozzarella. We are working our way down around the toe through the Straight of Messina today and look forward to see just how far north we will make it with the boat.

Aegean Sea, Greece

2008-07-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

July 18th, 2008

Chios to the Gulf of Corinth, Greece

Our next step was to traverse the Aegean Sea. The first stop was all of 5 miles off the coast of Turkey. You never realize just how close all these lands are. No wonder they kept arguing over what belonged to whom. With the winds constantly against us we were only making short trips each day. Hopping island to island, we made quick one night stops on the island of Chios, Kea and then the south eastern point of mainland Greece at Sounia Point. Here is located a temple to Poseidon. We have been
busy dusting off the memories of Greek history from our childhood and some extra reading to find out that Zeus, Hades and Poseidon were all brothers. Splitting up the world evenly, Zeus took all the heavens, Hades the under world and Poseidon the water world. Being the savvy tourists we have become, we realized that adults had to pay and children got in free to view the temple. Quickly give the kids the cameras, make them run up the hill and take the photos, problem solved. As kids will do, they
even figured out how to use new settings on the maiden voyage of our newest camera.

This particular anchorage didn't look quite sound enough for an overnight so we moved up the coast to Vouliagmeni. The original modern marina to be built in Greece. We soon found out it wasn't really a place to anchor either and the price was much to high to stay in a marina. The bay is home to every water sport imaginable. They have club sports here for wind surfing, slalom water skiing, and Optimus dinghy sailing. We attempted to officially check into the country here and found it nearly impossible
to do. No one had any great answers on how to efficiently complete the task so after hours with no reward we gave up and found our way up to Piraeus, the town just next to Athens and the Acropolis, our destination.

Much like our experience in Vouligameni, Athens proved to be even more difficult at finding a place to rest our heads. There was either no room in the inn or marinas simply wouldn't answer their radios. We could hear them speaking to each other, we could float right outside their entrance and see them sitting in their towers. After two hours of burning precious fuel we tied ourselves up to the most likely place, walked up to the office and pleaded our case. They couldn't say no. For 35 Euros
a day, no water or electricity how could it hurt them. We are curious about the usual customers they keep though as an armed guard escort in bullet proof jackets and motorcycles helped the guests of the lovely large motor boat across from us, leave the docks.

Early the next morning we gathered our maps and attempted the metro system. Thank goodness it is a forgiving system since we got on the wrong one and still managed to end up in the right place. The Acropolis was fun to see but we have to be honest and say viewing it through and entire cage of metal scaffolding with thousands of our closet friends is a bit of a disappointment, especially after viewing Ephesus up close and personally. It was difficult to imagine Alexander and Aristotle sitting around
discussing the fates and muses. Again as savvy tourists, we are not ashamed to say that we have learned the art of dividing and conquer. Each person attaches themselves to tour group with an English speaking guide, we reassemble and share the bits of knowledge we have gained. The grounds and gardens are lovely to tour, the small museum we could enter had great artifacts to view, and the fascinating part would be the continuous archeological digs that are going on all around you. You can watch
them chip away at the earth and pull up still more shard of pottery.

Next stop, the Corinth Canal. Not having much information on it we weren't sure what to expect. Large container ships to small boats alike pass through a canal cut right into the rock that once joined Peloponnese and the main land Greece. At it's tallest the rock stands 63 meters high and the water only 8 meters deep. We motored right into the canal and figured they would let us know what to do. Luck was on our side this day. We tied up to the dock, the manager hung his head out of the traffic
control tower and with a megaphone hailed us up to the office. Bruce and Kelly boy ran up, we paid our fees of $250, and apparently couldn't get back to the boats fast enough as the canal manager hung his head out the window once more with the megaphone and yelled, "Captain, HURRY". A giant container ship passed just before us and we were to follow him closely. Bridges up ahead that lets auto traffic traverse the gorge were waiting on us all. The high stone walls are breath taking but I doubt
the young gal bungee jumping off one of three bridges that cross the canal had time to stop and look at them as we did. Tristan rode the canal with a birds eye view from the top spreader. The gates at each end of the canal rise up from under water, again to provide a road to cross and stop unwanted travelers when needed.

Once through the canal and into the gulf we used the wind as our friend to sail toward many other famous destinations such as the Delphi. Home to the most famous and heralded oracle of the time. Though she spoke in only gibberish, the priests would translate the persons future for them. On the Peloponesse side are such famous sites as Sparta itself, and the original site of the Olympic games in 1000 B.C. to name just a couple. We found a treasure of an anchorage on the tiny island of Trizonia.
Trizonia coordinates 38 22.053N,022 04.753E
A public marina that appears to have been started many years ago but never finished, and it was FREE. A joyous thing in our world. We found inexpensive and fairly reliable internet there with kind locals and fresh produce. A hike around the island, the Moorea crew painted their water line and the boys had the opportunity to ride the Kelly's bikes around the dock for 3 days. It was the perfect stay before we headed out into the Ionian Sea to round out our time in Greece.
until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew

Marmaris to Kusadasi, Turkey

2008-07-20T08:54:00.001-07:00

July 5th, 2008

Marmaris to Kusadasi, Turkey
coordinates 37 52.113N,027 15.748E

We can certainly see why many cruisers get stuck here in Turkey and spend a season or two. The cruising grounds are beautiful and they make it amazingly comfortable and convenient for one on land. There are quite a few marina's, though a little expensive for our pockets. There is just so much to see and do.

Marmaris coordinates 36 49.539N,028 28.596E
We made landfall here and found a beautiful basin. For those familiar with Lake Tahoe in California, it is very reminiscent of it. Pine forest right down to the waters edge and just like Reno, scores of resorts and small music thumping, blaring night clubs, lining the North Shore. Our two weeks here were spent doing a few boat projects. There are so many chandleries here that if you can't find the part you need, you must not need it. We were introduced to more tasty versions of kebob and kofte,
a spicy meat ball of sorts, and marveled at their traditional style sail boats called "gulets". They have a marvelous design and size that we have not seen in any other boats to date. Nearly every major point or port has a citadel or castle to mark the spot so we enjoyed the views to be had from the top of the one built here. A few days of wake boarding for the boys and practicing the art of dodging carpet sellers. Turkey is famous for their woven "double knot" style of weaving and the works are
beautiful. Best thing of all, the older they are the more valuable. You don't get that equation often.

One of the greatest experiences in Turkey for us has to be the opportunity to watch their football (soccer) team through their eyes as they competed in the European Championships. They made it as far as semi finals, a huge feat for any one. Each game they won you would have thought they had taken the final trophy home. So much pride and joy is infectious. After each win a parade of cars, scooters, all the towns buses, and any one on foot who could walk carrying larger than life flags, flares,
fireworks. You name it, they filled the streets until all hours of the night in celebration. Without fail, to make each game more suspenseful, all the action happened within the last two minutes of the game or the overtime.

From there our pals on s/v Moorea reunited with us and we slowly made our way up the western coast to Kusadasi where we planned to see the ruins of Ephesus. Amazingly each point or town has it's own little set of ruins and ancient citadels overlooking each bay. There is always something fun here to go explore. So much history and culture we are getting dizzy.
There are a multitude of anchorages to stay in and luckily they are all within a days hop so no overnight sails for a while. Alexander the Great, Homer, Socrates, famed sculptors and thinkers all walked here. The only down side would be the wind direction. Which ever direction you want to head there will be your wind. We have perfected our tacking skills and our plotted course is a perfect zig zag.

Ephesus proved to be as wonderful as the guide books exclaimed. We rented a car and made our way inland. To visualize the 3rd century BC. men, women and children draped in their robes and walking from the city councils agora or meeting place to the public bathroom or pool and the library, each step lined in white marble is fascinating. Though much of it is simply the foundations of buildings left standing, there are enough columns and symmetrically carves cornices and capitals, bits of colorful
glass mosaics and beheaded statues to make it feel real. A full amphitheater complete with back stage tunnels to walk through and get out your first night jitters before performing on stage was a lot of fun. You can certainly imagine the splendor of the library and see the men sitting on the steps debating the latest theory. In it's time, it was a leading port city and sea trade center. Today it stands miles inland after silting filled in the shores leaving it land locked. As it's various attackers
each took their turns of ruling, it passed from worshiping the greatest Greek gods, Christianity and then to Islam. Each member adding a new worship center or minaret as it saw fit. Neighboring sites and towns hold the believed chapels and homes of St. John and Mary, the mother of Jesus.

A final stop at a rug making center completed our stay in Turkey. We had the chance to watch how they removed the silk from the cocoons, and then to see the women practice the art of "double knot" techniques. The value of the carpet is gauged by how many knots per square in one can tie. The thinner the thread the more knots. They roll them out covering the floor and insist that you walk around on $80,000 rugs. We nearly had heart attacks. Despite the fact that the salesman knew that we could
never afford to buy nor store such a treasure he took his time to personally teach and talk with us about these breath taking and intricate designs.
until next time,
the Ohana Kai crew

Not our finest hours

2008-06-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

May 27, 2008
Mediterranean Sea
Coordinates
It isn’t often that you will hear me complain because it is extremely rare that I cannot find the silver lining to any situation. This was as close as it gets out of the nearly 3 years out thus far.
We were exhausted after all our travels through Egypt after not taking much time to rest. We thought the next 3 day passage to Karpathos, Greece would be the time to catch our breath. Not so. As we exited the Suez Canal, I Lisa, began to feel achy which I though was simply due to the late night, 3 crew soccer game that had ensued until the late hours the previous evening. But by the end of my first night watch I hurt from my eyelashes to my bone marrow. By the next morning I couldn’t get two feet from the bathroom. Conveniently for me, there is one always two feet away on a boat. By that next afternoon poor Bruce had joined me in my misery with the extra component of nausea. Egypt’s parting gift to us was some terribly nasty intestinal thing which we will just call evil.
That following evening we were hit by 25-35 knots of wind that we were try desperately hard to sail nearly directly into. Close hauled and trying to put a second reef in and pull in some head sail between our night shifts at 1am, we came to find that the bashing had loosened the cover for our storm sail and sent it long lost over board, the sail itself was now dragging half in the water and one sheet to the head sail was wrapped around the surf boards and out of it’s blocks, and the dinghy was coming loose. It was about this time that Bruce began vomiting. We got things in order and got him to bed, when we took a large wave over the bow, which found its way again under the dinghy and through the two hatches that were not shut tightly enough. We took in enough water to soak the bed, all of Bruce’s clothes and leave another ½ inch floating around our feet. Under any other circumstances this night would have been uncomfortable and certainly inconvenient but tolerable. This night it was all we could do to remain conscious. If we had the strength at this point we would have taken all the sails down and just floated for a while but we couldn’t move anymore. We lay there taking turns blinking at the radar and faithfully, God blessed us with not one single piece of shipping traffic to deal with for the next 24 hours. For awhile, I tried to keep us close hauled but the wind would shift, we would round up, loose steering and tack on our own. Finally I set our course off far enough that I didn’t care if we ended up in Cyprus or Turkey. With the morning came the sun, calm seas and little wind so we were able to motor directly at our destination and sleep the day away. The boys thankfully never contracted this evil bug and took to foraging for nuts and fruits on their own. Matthew even rallied to cook spaghetti for them with little direction. He did voice his concern when he realized just how serious things can be when both mom and dad are out of commission. It is easy to say that was our worst night ever but thankfully, silver lining here, it was only 36 hours, we are both back on track now and we have great faith in our crew.

The Suez Canal

2008-06-04T05:34:00.000-07:00

May 24, 2008
It is rather fun to run with the big boys here. You are surrounded by the largest container ships you can find of every possible shape and size. They say that two times a year someone runs aground there and we had the fortune of front row seats for one of them. The first cruise ship to be exiting the canal at the south basin suddenly called something out over its speakers, dropped anchor in a last effort to save itself and ground to a halt. We watched as the other ships began to stack up behind it trying to slow their progress toward it. In about an hour, a tug managed to pull it off and the flow was going again, but impressive none the less. These big boys can’t really stop on a dime.

First we anchored in the South Basin and our blessings continued. We managed to arrive on a Sunday at 1pm and were out the next morning at 10am with our fuel having been delivered at 11:30 pm under the cover of darkness for just the right price. In the morning, we were boarded by out pilot to help us navigate. It is really just a technicality since it is a very deep and wide straight shot to motor through. We heard stories of it taking people 10 days before they were allowed to transit. Apparently the canal closes frequently due to “our” military ships going through it. In short, it looks a lot like any other canal you have ever seen, irrigation or otherwise, flowing water with a sandy bank on each side. It does flow north though which surprised us. Only this one is 50 to 90 feet deep, wide enough for a container ship and a sail boat to pass each other, 121 miles long and, dotted with young, bored, military men every half mile. Good thing they gave them binoculars for something to do and us to wave at as we go by. There are the occasional tent towns and tanks as well and a tunnel somewhere that goes under it. Surprisingly there is a lovely suspension bridge that goes over it, and a second one that can twist to connect the two sides of Cairo to the Sinai Peninsula each day. At the north end, the Port of Said is just like any other hustling busy shipping port complete with cranes, cruise ships and ferries.

Half way up is the town of Ismailia, a small harbor where we med moored for a few days before finishing our transit of the canal. It must be the first upper middle class town we have seen in about a year. From here we again with our pals on Luna, we made a quick one day trip inland to Cairo to wrap up our Egyptian experience, complete with camel rides right up to the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Very fun and very worth it but Bruce says it is his last camel ride. It is inspiring to view these monumental hand built creations 3 to 5,000 years old still standing. Just as in the temples of Karnack and Kings it looks as though Disney has opened a new wing in their world to explore, just standing there for you to touch, original rocks, colors and paintings. The Sphinx was a bit smaller than we expected and the sprawling metropolis of Cairo literally across the street is a bit odd but the splendor of the pyramids standing amongst the camels can hardly be dampened.

Most distressing though is to see the state of every other building standing. They are either left half way completed or half way broken down to complete disrepair. There is no effort or engineering going into the housing by the looks of it and we know they have the knowledge. We’ve seen the pyramids that are still standing and the shining examples of gorgeous minaret’s all around. The capabilities are there, why not follow through?

We are so glad we had a chance to experience Egypt and we are glad it’s done. The omnipresent and omni-greedy military gets to be a bit too much. In their shining white uniforms and black beanies demanding their baksheesh, they has become as much of an icon as the rest of the historical landmarks. Baksheesh may be like a tip to them but a bribe to us. A demanding one at that and everyone wants and will have no problem telling you if it is not enough. If they ask for a shirt or shoes, and you offer them one, they will undoubtedly ask if have anything newer. They’ll ask for cigarettes and turn their nose up if it’s not Marlboro’s. The scrutinizing of passports, the waving of hands is exhausting. Though we had no troubles with them, smile and pay accordingly, things go smoothly, reap what you sow and all, we know some who did have troubles. Simply, don’t make noise or draw any attention. The citizens we met, by contrast, were beyond kind beyond reason and somehow, as always, they love America and those that reside in it!

Experiencing Egypt

2008-06-04T05:31:00.000-07:00

Egypt
May 20, 2008

We have been busily taking in the sights and sounds of Egypt and as we finished our transit through the Suez Canal we were hoping to catch our breath during a few overnights to Karpathos, Greece. It did not quite work out that way, but that story will come later. I will give you an idea of what we’ve done hope to fill in the finer details someday soon on the web page.

After the dolphins we made a stop in a lovely marina in Hurghada, as our port of entry. They have a tower to rival any airport so they know your coming. A beautiful hotel/resort resides with showers, restaurants and a pool there as well and though the right hand and the left hand aren’t quite working together yet, we have no doubt that someday it will be a very convenient and lovely place to stop. From there we took an inland trip to Luxor and viewed the Temple of Karnac and the Valley of the Kings. This requires an early morning militarized motor convoy escort with nearly 100 other tour busses, cars and trucks. You pay a little money, you wave your passports around, you’re on your way. We are still not sure what we needed protecting from but after hours and hours of driving, crazy driving, with a few rest stops in between, our destination was worth the wait.

Valley of the Kings was spectacular and I will sum it up with King Tut’s mummy is actually sitting there in his tomb!!! We were flabbergasted. We did have to pay a little extra to see him, though we didn’t even realize he was down there. We saw Hatshepsut’s temple, Karnac temples complete with hieroglyphics, that the boys are sure they can translate now, how alabaster creations and papyrus are made. Spent a lovely night in a hotel and did the tackiest tourist thing we knew how to do. Eat at McDonalds over looking the Luxor temples itself. You should try a McArabian some day, they are very tasty. The Nile River was interesting. Honestly, it could have been the Mississippi or any other river for all we knew. I don’t know what we were expecting. It certainly does provide some luscious fertile lands for growing all that Egyptian cotton, food for the herds and a major source of tourist income as it is filled to the brim with mini cruise ships that look mildly like giant paddle boats and traditional felucca sailing vessels. In between everything else is hot, dry and sandy. The occasional Bedouin and camel can be seen wandering but fairly empty out there sans military posts.

Next was the dash up the Gulf of Suez before reaching the canal. We were able to motor sail against the winds and made fairly good time without much discomfort. We hid out in Mersa Thelemet for a night until the military there caught on to us and asked us to leave at sunset, as the winds picked up to 25 knots. They stated, “You don’t want to take your babies out into that weather, it can be dangerous, but… you can stay here tonight for $100”. We took our chances and left, finding a perfectly comfortable anchorage just around the corner on the other side of their sand bar. A couple more nights navigating through dozens and dozens of oil tankers and more impressive oil derricks, flaming away and lighting the night sky. At times though, the smell and the flies are nearly unbearable. Next the Suez Canal.

Dolphin Reef

2008-05-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

Dolphin Reef
May 3, 2008
coordinates 24 10.157N, 035 40.521E

We departed from Ras Banas early in the morning when we awoke to the feeling of no wind. After so many days of consistent 25 to 35 knots it was a bit eerie. Traveling up the Red Sea is a bit like that game Red Light/Green Light that you played as a kid. Mother Nature is "it" and when she turns her back and fails to blow winds against you, you run like the dickens, when she turns back around and begins to throw her glances at you, you freeze right where you are and hope your not out. When she wasn't
looking we made our next dash up to Port Ghalib or Marsa Alam, but not before a quick stop in Dolphin Reef for one of supreme experiences of our entire lives. Mother Nature took a quick look at us and sent a bit more wind than we wanted to beat against so we took a quick stop in here and thank goodness for her.

As the name suggested, dolphins frequent this small bay created entirely out of submerged reef. No ground to stand on but very protected. We were fortunate that there was a large pod to numerous to count swimming within the boundaries when we dropped anchor, so we quickly donned out snorkel gear and took a swim with them. I do mean "with them". Scores of them were everywhere, calmly swirling around in only 20 - 30 feet of water. They didn't run away from us but they kept their distance initially.
As a smaller pods of them would pass by you a sentinel of sorts would break off to swim around you and check you out. They certainly were curious about us, but I don't think we are anything new to them as many, many boats stop in here and take a dive. I have heard though that some people have waited 4 days and never seen them so still we were feeling eternally blessed. It was nothing short of miraculous to watch them in their home, their own environment, no trainers, no tricks. Big ones, little
ones, mommies and babies, entire pods over us, under us, and we even had the great fortune to watch them mating. As two would begin their enticing dance together, two more would swirl around them, maybe to keep others away, we don't know. They would swim so close that we would swim with outstretched arms in hopes of just once, feeling that smooth rubbery skin but just as you were sure you were about to connect they would wiggle just out of reach. I swear they would look back at you with a twinkle
in their eye. But then it happened, as we each broke off from each other a bit in our snorkeling, nearly each person had the same experience of being encircled by 1 to 3 dolphins. As you held perfectly still, floating there they would swim tighter and tighter around you and then you realized they wanted to be touched. Our hearts began racing, as you held your hand out they continually ran their bodies under your touch, to be rubbed over and over like a cat rubbing against your leg. We could only
marvel at how comfortable they were with us and thank them over and over for the experience. It seemed to go on forever in that moment and we never wanted it to end. And then they moved on. When the adrenaline slowed it's flow did we only realize how long we had been in the water and just how cold we were.

We gathered ourselves up and back to the boats, pulled up anchor and as the sun set picked our way out of the coral to head on to our next destination, pinching ourselves all the way in hopes that what had just happened was not a dream.
until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew

First stop in Egypt

2008-05-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

May 1, 2008
Ras Banas, Egypt
Coordinates 23 53.557N, 035 46.883E
Before heading into any new area we always do our reading and research on the best paths to follow, the best weather windows and such. Any such research regarding the Red Sea always contains some horrible stories regarding the terrible head winds of 25 to 40 knots and steep seas that sailors have ended up beating against. Hoping to avoid such a trip ourselves, when our grib files said there would be 4 days of little to no wind against us we took our opportunity and made a run for it. The up side
obviously means we make great time heading north; the down side would be that we are passing up a lot of opportunities to visit some amazing locations on land and blazing right over some beautiful waters for diving in.

We quickly left Suakin and marveled at our good luck with the weather. With light winds out of various directions over the next few days we were even able to sail a majority of this leg. We did take one quick lunch break to anchor on Jazirat Bayer coordinates 20 52.187N, 037 23.598E for a nice snorkel to view some coral, large schools of trigger fish, trevali and the occasional reef shark. Back underway to our next destination, all the boats in our fleet were quietly beginning to question the
decision to push ahead and pass these treasures up when the answer quickly arrived. The grib files were telling of the winds picking back up on the 28th but they arrived a day early. Luckily we only had a taste of 25 knots on the nose not 40. We bashed only a few hours that morning with the escort of dozens and dozens of dolphins and came to find refuge with a few other boats in a bay sheltered by the Ras Banas sand spit peninsula. Though we were hoping to make it a bit further north to Dolphin
Bay we ended up here, maybe for the better. We have heard that there is no land to stand on up there so we've been hunkered down here ever since. In fact, we have become pod people. Due to lengthy passages, weather or shore conditions, in the last 40 days we have only touched land approximately 14 times. Amazing when you realize just how small the living space is. It is a good thing we love our boats and love to spend so much time together. Our little vessel keeps us safe, sound and cozy.

Welcome to Egypt! The flat low lying sand magically makes it way to us over the water with such ease it's amazing. You can see the giant sand clouds form over the land and we are covered in fine brown silt. Everyone is trying to adjust with stuffed sinuses and a slight hacking cough. The water, though a bit cooler than farther south, is very clear and provides some nice snorkeling. And of course, since we are captive until the winds die again and we can make our way further north, make the best
of what you've got. Out came the wind surf board and kite surf gear! Vincent, Bart and Bruce have had a great time skimming the waters around the boats on their boards. Bart brought out little Soleil's wind surf board and each kid had a quick lesson. They popped up like daisies on the boards and took off. They are hooked. Looks like we will be purchasing more toys soon.
The kids, with the help of some local young military men posted out here, have also created some great sand castles. They had the opportunity, as budding archeologist, to dig up a partially exposed camel skeleton and try to recreate him. Our young military friends, though they speak nearly no English, got quite a lesson in anatomy as well.

So that's it. Our weather info claims that it will blow even worse tomorrow but then we may see a break come Saturday where we will try to make a push up to Port Galib. We have seen some beautiful lightning storms which make propagation not so hot for sending emails but slowly we get through. There are certainly worse places to be stuck.

Sudan

2008-05-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

April 22, 2008
Suakin, Sudan
Coordinates 19 06.502N, 037 20.323E

It always amazes us when we turn a corner into a new country, town or anchorage and come to find a hugely developed civilization where we thought we would see primitive surroundings or run down ruins. Equally surprised, this time the opposite was true. We had heard and read from others that Suakin, Sudan was the place of choice to stop and check into the country. Ports of entry are usually fairly well built up with quite a few resources. Where we thought we might find a larger city we drifted
into a small, rather desolate town of Suakin. As you drift past flat dry desert plains dotted with occasional adobe or brick structures, we were excited to see the random camel walking or sitting by the waters edge. Mysterious ruins that originally were built out of coral blocks brought up from the sea floor by hand hundreds of years ago, have been left to decay. We were anxious to find the story behind these buildings in a town that is known to have been the last slave trading destination up
until WWI. We were sorely disappointed when their reply was simply, "They got old and fell down."

After a simple but slightly expensive check in, $360 USD including fuel, though the kids were free, we took a quick tour, dinner on shore and quickly came to love the feel of this simple and fairly impoverished town. The blazing heat both night and day and the wind storms have worked their magic over the town during the last few hundreds of years. Many buildings are simply left in piles of ruble and ruins until the next one is to be built. There were no trees or shrubs to speak of and only one
main road in this small corner of Sudan. Never fear though, technology has made its way here as evident by the cell phones that everyone is carrying. Even the oldest, most wrinkly little man we found could whip out his Motorola and show you his latest text message that was written in English!

Our first meal in Africa consisted of a bean dish (kidney or pinto) with cheese on top, slightly bitter and tasteless, salt helps. A whole chicken was $12 US, which was a bit rich for our budget. Instead we opted to simple bread similar to naan and a mystery meat on a stick cooked on an open flame. Enough of this tasty fare to feed 11 people for the low price. Including drinks which again as in every country has been coke or pepsi. The only thing that is found unanimously throughout the world
believe it or not followed only by plastic bags! The meat we ate that night was most likely to have been goat since they are the most prevalent animal to be seen around town besides the hundreds of feral cats, donkeys and occasional camel. Donkeys are the main source of transportation, carrying either men on their backs, or drawing carts behind them with a variety of goods including the water tanks for delivery from the Nile River we were told.
Matthew was our guide for the evening. With a name like Matthew we had to ask and yes, northern Sudan is 50% Muslim, 50 % Christian. We saw many many mosques in the less than 1 sq, mile that we walked but we never did see the other churches. We saw only one woman the first night and only a handful the next two days. Always dressed in full headdress but their faces were showing and their clothes were beautiful colors of purples, reds, and oranges, as well as black.
We visited the open market the next day where you can find just about any item of produce you might desire. Onions to oranges, beans to bananas, it was nearly all here depending on what you are willing to pay. The currency is a Sudanese pound with an exchange of 50 cents US to one of their pounds. 1 pound for 3 eggs vs. for 3 for an orange. We got eggs. 5 pounds for a watermelon and the goat meat, tasty looking though it was hanging out there in the dust, flies and sunshine was out of our price
range.

A new acquaintance Awad was our self appointed guide for the day. Amazingly intelligent with a grasp of world geography and politics that would put most American's to shame; he enlightened us on many of their ways and helped with a lot of translating and trading. He is the town's local doctor and though we never could quite understand where he went to school, he certainly knew a lot about everyone and everything there. We spent a lot of time with the local shop smith of sorts. The shop smith
was diligently working on short daggers with handles made out of ebony wood. His shop had an array of whips, bridles and saddles made out of goat hair but built for camels. We were particularly interested in some very old long swords. A quick visit to a local tea house, we each tasted a new version of cappuccino. Tiny little porcelain cups that look like they should hold sake are filled ¾'s full with sugar. Next, the coffee or tea beverage made of cardamom, ginger and cloves that has been heated
in miniature aluminum watering cans is poured right over the sugar. Adding to the charm is the open flame charcoal fire inside the brick structured stove and tea house, in already 90+ degree heat, that has no way to vent to anywhere and the dish washing system run entirely by flies. It's a whole new flavor!

We always bring our cameras but have learned over the last couple of months to carefully hold it up first and ask if we may take some photos. It is often surprising who does and doesn't want a photo taken. And it never fails that if we forget to ask first, we get in trouble or at least certainly get the finger wag and a good talking to. Kelly girl will let you know first hand that photos of military buildings are off limits.

We topped off our stay there with an Arabian nights dinner and dance party on De Pelikaan. Each boat came in costume and together we celebrated the marvelous connections we have made and the memories we share. Once we get through the canal many of our paths will be separated as we each have different time schedules to keep on the other side and none of us wants to wait until it's too late to let the other know just how special they are to us.

Traveling up the Red Sea

2008-04-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

Suakin, Sudan AFRICA
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Coordinates 19 06.558N, 037 29.356E

We may have had the light winds getting to Yemen but we made up for it with nearly 5 days of perfect winds as we rounded through the Small Straight on the southwest corner of Yemen and headed up the Red Sea. We decided against stopping in Eritrea or Djibouti for a variety of reasons and decided to utilize the wind.

Our stops in Al Mukalla and Aden, Yemen were wonderful. We would be lying if we said we didn't think twice about stopping there once we learned it was the birth place of Osama Binladen, with all the recent government warnings regarding increased Al Qaeda terrorist activities, the evacuations of all non-emergency US citizens, the bombing of the US embassy housing and the murder of two Belgian citizens on the way to the Yemen airport but the Yemeni people couldn't have welcomed us with more open arms.
They provided us with the quickest as easiest check into their country that we have experienced anywhere around the world, complete with great smiles and a fun sense of humor. The only time we really felt a bit unnerved was leaving a restaurant on our 3rd night, we noticed 2 armed military men on the roof and a 3rd posted near our dinghies. We decided it was a show of strength in order to keep us safe. I must say, the full wall of windows we were eating in front of 2 nights in a row did make
us look a bit like food on display in the grocery store. Needless to say, we altered our routines from then on and didn't travel in a pack of 17. No need to draw so much attention.

Right away, the dramatic feel of the town is upon you as you look at how they have built their city right into the side of tall rugged rock mountains that stand as the backdrop, dotted with small caves in the sides, watch towers across the top that once guarded against intruders, and above all, the dozens of minarets that echo out their haunting chants and calls to prayers dutifully 5 times a day. The sounds reverberate over and over as they bounce off the walls behind them and float out across
the waters to us. In the evening each of them glow a soft green light.

It appears as though there is a disproportionately large amount of women to men in the town. The women are difficult to miss with their completely black bourka's as we might refer to them at home, they call abaya and tarha. Hope I have that correct. All women are covered from head to toe with only their eyes showing. Many even have their eyes covered with a see through veil and black gloves on their hands. After talking to them we hear that they wear the same old clothes as you and I do underneath.
They walk together in groups of 4 or 5 friends often in the evenings or approach you in ones and twos asking for money. They ask it of everyone, not just tourists, as giving alms is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. The lack of visible men we found out is due to the growing oil fields in northern Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Many men work the fields there, we even met a couple who trained in Texas and had impeccable English.

Though we really didn't have much time in either location for sight seeing we tried to take in the local culture and flavors by visiting a suq (local bazaar and tea house). Stalls of fresh jasmine flower necklaces, Arabic chewing gum, herbs, spices, yummy tea and sweet breads gave us a pretty good start. There may not be any alcohol allowed, though they didn't hesitate to ask for it and we heard it was easily acquired on the black market, they have qat. An amphetamine type plant that looks like
thick glossy basil leaves; they chew like tobacco, all day. Then they take a shot or two of whisky at night to help them sleep. This is legal no matter what your job. We originally though the town shut down between 12 and 4pm because of the heat as in the olden days but now we think maybe it is the effects of the qat catching up to them. In the malls, nearly every store is a clothing or fabric store for the most beautiful, colorful, jeweled and sequined flowing gowns that they wear behind closed
doors for family and friends. It was stunning. For $150 USD you could have a tailored gown that would put everyone to shame on the red carpet.

We wished we could have had so much more time to dive in deeper. The local people we were lucky enough to meet had so much fun helping us practice our Arabic and we were amazed and their English skills, their diversity, and their ability to progress into the future while holding on tight to their cultures, customs and history. Though arranged marriages and multiple wives still seems to be the regular practice, we also were privileged to meet 3 lovely young ladies in the grocery store each about
20 years of age and studying at the university in French, journalism and medicine…impressive.

We didn't want to wear out our welcome so it was time to move on. Just under half way up the Red Sea and about to touch the continent of Africa, we couldn't be more excited.
Until next time,
Masalama
Your Ohana Kai crew

Arabian Sea

2008-04-13T07:19:00.000-07:00

Arabian Sea
March 31, 2008
coordinates 11 46.437N, 060 22.290E

You know you've been on passage a while when you don't know how many days it's been and you have no desire to find out how much farther you have to go. I will say we have only 683 miles left! We continue to float along at only 1.5 knots sometimes. It is only tolerable because the seas have been so flat. It is more comfortable than being on anchor at times. As a captive audience we have accomplished more school in one week that in a month sometimes. Then again, learning comes in all forms.
The down side would still be shifts and shift change. Poor Bruce and I pass each other like, well, ships in the night. (Sorry, I had to do it) We get enough sleep but it isn't always very restful and the margins between awake and asleep seemed to get more blurred at times. All's well though. No complaints and our atrophied muscles are eating very well so you can imagine how that will end up. Hopefully there will be a lot of walking to do once we hit shore.

We heard that congratulations were in order for "Catalina". The makers of our beautiful girl, Ohana Kai, recently made the 1,000th version of our Catalina 42. It is the only boat in history of our length to be made in that great of numbers. I know there are a lot of fans out there for originals and one-off boats, but in order to have a need to create 1000 they must be doing something right. Though she is not known for being an "off shore" boat she is serving us very well. People often ask if
we worry about the boat in such situations. Nope. She knows what she is doing. As Bruce often says, "It is the jockey not the horse to question."
until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew

Crossing the Indian Ocean

2008-03-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

Friday March 28, 2008 3:00am
coordinates 09.20.492N,066.23.922E

We are 6 days into approximately a 2 week crossing give or take a week depending on this wind or lack there of. The first two days held very light winds out of many directions but not necessarily the direction we would like. It is amazing though when the sea is so flat and calm that you can get 3 knots of boat speed out of only 6 knots of wind. The currents in the Maldives are faster than this but we are not complaining. We'll take the calm sea and the forward progress with no motor any day of
the week. With a lot of tacking we are slowly making westward movement. Moorea, Luna and Pelikaan are floating nearby as well so we are in good company.

Day 3 brought even less wind so we had to break down and start the engine. Unfortunately that uses fuel but makes us "amp happy" as we say. So when the school work is done the boys get to play video games with all our extra electricity. We have only seen a couple of fishing boats but pods and pods of dolphins. Mostly Bottle nose or Spinner dolphins but you can tell that spring is in the air. The littlest of baby dolphins came leaping through the water at maybe 1-2 feet long. Adorable.
Day 4, 5 and 6 brought the slightest whisper of a wind back and though we didn't realize it was possible, we have been able to squeeze out 1.5 to 2 knots of speed out of 3 to 4 knots of wind. Thank goodness for what ever small currents are working in our favor. The boys have offered to hop in the water and kick for an extra push. We may have to take them up on that.
This is a whole new style of sailing for this crew, especially for that captain. Famous for constantly trimming the sails and refining our wind angle, speed has always been the name of our game. Normally with winds so light we would be rolling around and beating our sails to death. The sea is still literally glassy flat and smooth so we don't roll at all and are amazingly comfortable and lazy looking. Good thing too until the winds fill in because with just over 1000 miles left to go, we cannot
afford the chance to run the engine any more than necessary. We are content to float on by. At the current speed of 2 knots, it will only take 20 more days to get there. Bruce joked that it is half the distance of crossing the Pacific Ocean and may take us longer to get there. Hopefully not, there is a very strange smell on the wind tonight, we shall see what it brings.

Matthew let mom know early on that if we were off shore for the day it was her job to take over for the Easter Bunny. Those are big furry feet to fill. We celebrated with 6 colored eggs hidden, only to be found by the boys in about 60 seconds flat. The Easter Bunny is going to have to be more clever and make this more challenging next time. They are mildly in withdrawal without any jelly beans or chocolate bunnies but the Mentos, gum, and marshmallows that filled their goody bags seemed to do
them well.

We are all nicely settled into our crossing routines by now. With the calm seas, our shifts of odd sleep hours is working well. We take slightly different sleep schedules than do most cruisers. Bruce takes the first shift from 8pm to 1am while Lisa sleeps, Lisa's shift from 1am - 6am, and then they each fit is a 3 hour nap or so during the day. Bruce bides his time with reading, guitar and our radio nets with neighboring boats, until a new project on the boat arises. Lisa cooks and bakes, the
newest creations have been a delightful mango chutney and a rock hard coffee cake. School and games for the boys keeps the smaller crew members busy. The BBC does come in well on our Ham radio so it is fun to sit around it and keep connected to the worlds events. Each evening we all sit together to watch a movie and have dinner, then it all starts over again.
Such is life on a crossing.
until next time,
your crew on Ohana Kai

Himmafushi, Maldive

2008-03-23T05:24:00.002-07:00

March 22, 2008
Himmafushi
coordinates 04.18.390N,073.33.788E
You know you are getting the lay of the land when you start to see familiar faces on the ferry ride home at the end of the day. We've met some great friendly faces here and as well as always are enjoying the company of our pals on Moorea, Luna and Pelikaan. They were right there in fact all donning their black t-shirts ready to celebrate the big 40 for Lisa. They all spent the day surfing and the night with a pot luck. Lisa caught two of the best waves of her life here. One to send out 39 and
one to ring in the new day. She certainly never thought she would be saying that anytime in her previous life. It was a great time had and best of all was the chance to share the waves with all the kids who are quickly finding their feet and styles on their boards. There is nothing more fun than to see all 5, Tristan, Matthew, River & Roxy of Pelikaan, and Soleil of Luna, following Bruce around like a small flotilla of ducklings or all 5 on Bart's paddle board at once. To watch the ocean floor
mirrored in the curve of a beautiful tube rolling by, dolphins or manta rays leaping out of the waters and even the spray of a whale is one of the treasures that we cherish the most out here.

Back in town together we all found our favorite markets for produce and shops for provisioning. There is something addicting about their tiny Maldivian Mango's. Ahamed turned us in the right direction when it came to filling our fridge's and freezers with meat. A local distributor that he uses for charters also fills orders for civilians based in Iraq at the moment, and little old us. Were we tickled pink to find Original Log Cabin Country Kitchen syrup!!! It is the simple things in life isn't
it. We also found one fantastic Thai restaurant to ease our pains of leaving Thailand behind. We held one great feast night there with all the boats to toast the next leg of our adventures.

The sails and canvas are stitched, our windless and Moorea's alternator, both which gave up the ghost but found new life and are ready to go. We are weighted down with banana stalks, water and fuel. We have trimmed the hedges and mowed the lawn. That is the affectionate way to say that we chipped all the barnacles off the keel and scrapped the mosses off the hull. We have planned and prepared for what is potentially a bit more dangerous stretch of our trail. With all the unrest in Somalia, the
waters surrounding it are not much better at times we hear with potential pirate attacks. For precautions we have arranged to travel as close in proximity with our buddy boats, strength in numbers. We have code names if needed, (ours is Okie Dokie, the others are Lil' Mo, Moonies, and Big Bird in case you were curious) and codes for giving our positions so as to not give our locations away to others. Most importantly we will be keeping our distance from the Somalia shores and making our first
landfall in Al Mukallah, Yemen. This is the beginning of the more troublesome alley between Aden and itself. There we will regroup after the approximately 1400 mile trek. From there we will travel very closely, i.e. within eyesight if possible, for the remainder of the 200 mile jaunt to Aden. We have heard great things about both ports of call and anxiously await a whole new world for us to explore. We will be sending our much more frequent blog and tracking positions as well so you can keep
track of us too. We have emergency phone numbers and radio call frequencies should something arise but most importantly is to remember that the chances are slim to none to have such difficulties. Most vessels that approach us are simply looking for a friendly hand out of cigarettes and snacks. We plan to have a stack of cookies and a smile ready to win them over at any given moment. So don't worry mom's and dad's. All's Well.
As all the locals in the Maldives have been telling us "Winter is coming early". Bad news for us as that meant strong winds out of the north west, or more correctly, the direction we need to go. It has been a pleasant stay in the Maldive Islands but it's time to go. We have found our weather window and we're off. With so many blessing for us to count, let's remember our greatest gift in Christ, Happy Easter.
Until next time,
Your Ohana Kai crew

Hulhumale, Maldive

2008-03-23T05:24:00.001-07:00

February 25, 2008
Hulhumale
coordinates 04.13.128N,073.32.075E

We quickly learned the one of the toughest aspects about visiting Male was going to be the anchoring. Very deep waters, swift currents and lots o' coral! Our first attempts to anchor right in front of Male consisted of settling down right in the middle of the ferry shipping lane on a 40 ft. patch of coral surround by 100+ depths with 2 knots current against us. It was here that we waited only momentarily for our soon to be new friend and agent Ahamed was to board us with all the officials and check
us into their fine country. Fast, efficient and very friendly. Ahamed would become one of the greatest links and contacts to have during our stay in these islands. As an agent of Noroonma Travel, he deals with the paperwork and issues concerning all things on many ships that enter Maldives from someone as tiny as us or as large as a cruise ship or war ship. No matter how much is on his plate, he has an amazing ability to be right there to fulfill all your needs and make you feel like you are
the most important priority on his list. We cannot give him enough thanks for all his help.

The up side to the Maldives thus far has been the wonderful sunny weather, with the occasional thunderstorm or intensely humid day. We have become very used to the hatch dance in our sleep. This is where one runs wildly around in the dark middle of the night shutting the hatches due to intense sudden rain storms. We have learned the tell tale high wind warning sounds whipping through the rigging before the deluge begins. It is great for keeping the water tanks topped off though. The crystal
clear waters offer delicious aqua blue swimming opportunities but one has to keep a close eye on the currents. It can easily reach 2.5 - 3 knots or greater at times which creates a great game for the kids. Jump off the bow of the boat and try to catch a rope at the stern before you are whisked away. Blink and they're gone. We had dinghies at the ready to go and retrieve them. It is amazingly strong and one or two kids have been witnessed struggling to make it back up the ladder or nearly lose
a pair of swim trunks to the grips of the water.
The crew on Pelikaan was even able to catch a nice size trevalli fish at anchor.

The Maldives do boast some world class diving sites. The fish are plentiful and colorful, and I wouldn't trust my pinky fingers near some of the parrot fish that are nearly as large as my kids but the coral is a bit lacking. We have found a couple of places to surf at breaks named Chickens, Sultans, Honkeys and Colas. Between school and projects we are trying to fill our lasts days with this exercise since we will not have the opportunity again for nearly 6 months. We are starting to suffer from
withdrawals already. The locals we have met have been the most gracious, helpful, friendly and kind. A 100% Sunni Muslim culture their enchanting echoes calling them to prayer faithfully 5 times a day can be heart from the minarets.

The down side is that there is no real place for us here and it is getting more expensive for the next season of cruisers to come through. Each branch of their government would like a little slice of that pie and the ministry of tourism is the latest hungry person at the table. 8$ per person per day on top of anchoring fees and cruising permits we had purchased. The anchorages are very deep making it difficult to drop the hook just anywhere. On paper we are limited to anchoring in front of resorts
but there were issues there. Either the depths were too great, it was too expensive at $20 per person to set foot upon the shore and we would not be allowed to utilize any facilities, or they just didn't want us. Other locations we have tried, we either ended up on top of a national marine park, which we surely didn't want to injure and inside an island lagoon that though to our faces we were invited to come ashore and treated with great kindness, behind our backs we found out we were not wanted
near the more remote villages and their peoples and promptly asked to leave.

This left us with two main choices of the Hulhumale anchorage next to the airport. Very, very rolly and uncomfortable with any wind, sometimes sketchy as other boats come off their anchor at times in the high winds and severe fetch created by the wind and the heavy boat traffic. This also makes it very difficult and dangerous at times to land at the dinghy dock or tie your tender there unattended. The benefit here was the easy access to the now ever familiar half hour ferry ride to the main town
of Male. A bit hot and noisy if you are in the back row like us, but always a great adventure. They have taken jockeying into position into new levels. No matter how hard we tried we never made it to the front of the line. We'll have lots of time for practice though as we prepare to provision for the up coming crossing over the remainder of the Indian Ocean as we begin our journey up the Red Sea.

Our second and more frequented choice is a lagoon inside Himmafushi. The story isn't clear but at one time this island was a jail, may still be. All we could see was a ton of boat building. Best of all it was as close to the breaks as we were going to get for surfing. A 20 min. ride in the dinghy or as we wizened up, we would bring the big boats over for the day and have a great place to rest and refuel before heading back out for afternoon and evening sessions of surf. We have had some challenges
with many a wrapped anchor chain around a coral bommie. One fast and fierce thunderstorm left all four boats having to drive around in 40 knots wind and strong currents since being on anchor was too dangerous at the time and the weather too rough to make it back into the anchorage. We can't complain though. Life is good.

Until next time,
Your Ohana Kai crew

Male, Maldive Islands

2008-03-23T05:24:00.000-07:00

Maldives Islands
February 19, 2008

1300 miles and two time zones later we reached the Maldives Islands. Great winds the first 7 days, light winds for 2 days and no wind for the rest. Shipping traffic finally died out the last few days but other interesting things always keep us entertained. About 125 miles south west of Sri Lanka little green biting bugs that resembled aphids, we figure were blown across the water to visit us. We rounded out the crossing with some high jumping dolphins and haircuts for the boys. The two smaller
boys that is, never fear, the big one still has his Samsonian head of hair.

Male and the Maldive Islands!!! Who knew!!!
As we approach the capital of Male we were astounded to see a skyline rising up out of the ocean that could rival any major metropolis in the US, complete with air traffic buzzing all around. Float planes to giant international birds. These were not the atolls we had grown accustomed too in the South Pacific, though the word "atoll" technically comes from the Maldive language of Dihevi, flat coral islands surrounding lagoons of water and reef. They certainly have the clean water clarity as we
could spy the bottom in 50 feet at times.

The country of Maldive is made up of 1,190 islands. 192 of which are inhabited, with a total population of 300,000, 100% Sunni Muslim. Since the tsunami in 2004 many of those inhabitants have decided to move to the capital island for safety due to the fact that no one here died. 75,000 now live in Male alone. 90 various resorts throughout the habitable islands from The Four Seasons to Club Med. Therefore, use what you've got. Their number one source of income is tourism. Aside from that they
have the largest tuna in greater numbers than we have ever witnessed in our entire lives. The fish market at the end of the day is a site to behold. Everything else they need is shipped in and we do mean EVERYTHING, IPODS to ice cream, cereal to cars, including drinking water, since even that is in scarce supply.

Amazingly they have found ways to utilize every square inch of this island and planned right down to shipping out their garbage and shipping in rocks and sand from Sri Lanka in order to reclaim and build new islands if needed. The airport itself being one of those. They have really found ways to make their world work well for them. Of course we were able to sniff out the coca-cola bottling plant and the sword fish packing plants. There are lots of boat building facilities and great repair places
for what ever ails your boat.

We have signed up for one month here so time to go explore.
Until next time,
Your Ohana Kai crew

A New Type of Traffic

2008-02-17T17:38:00.000-08:00

Indian Ocean coordinates 05.00.379N,081.48.299E
currently slipping past the southern tip of Sri Lanka

We were hoping to write to you this week a bit more about the adventures we had in Bangkok, Vietnam and Cambodia but there is a more pressing matter at hand. We are currently about 6 days into our crossing from Thailand to the Maldive Islands. We have snuck just under the Nicobar Islands and according to our charts are in the middle of the "Great Channel". Great in more ways than one we have discovered. We have left behind the crazy world of scooter traffic only to find ourselves smack in the
middle of giant container ship traffic.
These ships, as you can imagine, are huge and charge across the water like giant metal elephants with a purpose. By the light of day they are fun and amusing to watch as the different types pass by, Evergreen, Hyundai, oil tankers. On the radio their captains speak a variety of languages to each other, Russian, French, Indian. Usually you can hear them call out "port to port" or "starboard to starboard" as they decide which side they would like to pass each other on. They move along at a fairly
good clip too, the "Global Triton" sped past us like she was late for a really important date. Under the cloak of darkness though, it all looks much different.
On our second night out around 2am we hit something in the water. Likely to be a log or something similar, it happens from time to time, you check the bilge, no water coming in means no holes, good news. It frays your nerves a bit none-the-less and sets the tone for the night. From then on I felt like a matador in the ring with a bull and 3 of his best buddies at any given moment. Would they pass right, left or charge us down the center. Only a couple of hours into a shift and I stopped counting
after 2 dozen. Usually they are fairly easy to monitor on the radar and being that we can see up to 16 miles out you can imagine just how many you can spot at one time. Luckily, by sight they are only visible within a 5 mile range or you would go crazy trying to decipher just what was out there. Depth perception is of no help in the dark. The down side to that is considering the speed they are traveling, it doesn't leave you much time to decipher what it's intentions are until the last minute.
Every vessel displays red and green lights visible from the left and rights sides respectively, including us. This aids in determining which side it is you can see. It is surprisingly difficult considering the behemoth size of them. You would think it would be very obvious. Unfortunately sometimes it is not and on three different nights, Bruce, Lisa and the Kelly's on Moorea found themselves far too close for comfort. Within a mile range would be good enough, but nose to nose and under a quarter
of a mile was nearly too much. All's well that ends well, and we have to say that in general we think that they are doing a fantastic job out here. Very professional and keep very good tabs on us. When we shine our flood lights on them the respond right away. Good to know they are watching!
Days 5 and 6 brought lighter winds, which amazingly always do more damage to the boat that the stronger ones. Slapping sails mean tears and repairs for us. What else can one do in the middle of the ocean but fix things anyway.
until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew

~~~~~~~~ Please make sure if you write back to us, "do not" to hit the reply button unless you delete the old email first. Our poor ancient email system cannot handle so much data. Thanks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thailand

2008-02-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

Sa wat dii!!!
Greetings from Thailand. It's official, the crazy hectic schedule and excitement of the holiday seasons happen everywhere in the world. It has been quite a while since we have posted a journal entry so we'll give the quick recap here and hope to add the details in to the web page later. First and foremost, we hope the New Year is settling in with all the hope and promise a New Year can bring to you. Last we wrote, we were running out of time on our visa's in Indonesia. We made a quick 2 day stop in Padang for our check out. The officials "liked" us and with some great help from the charter group at Surf Safari, we were let out of their country and on our way. Still sad to see that part of the adventure over and no doubt will make it back there again some day. We spent a bit of time working our way north up through the Telos and Banyak Islands on our way towards Thailand. We crossed the equator for the second and final time during these adventures. A stop in Nias brought some great last bits of surfing and a great chance to see a town rebuilding after their tsunami experiences back in 2004/5. A quick passage up around the northern tip of Banda Aceh and we were flushed out of the country. 20 knots of wind on the nose could not hold us back as the current was with us and we cruised through the pass at 5-6 knots. Surrounded by colorful, little fishing boats that looked like wooden clogs, a few over nights threading the needle between 40+ day glow fishing vessels at night and we found ourselves anchored in Nai Harn, Thailand.

Thailand coordinates 07.46.434N,098.17.946E
We jumped right in to all the Thailand could offer, and that above all includes tuk tuks and scooters. Again, a whole new world when it comes to road travel. Road rules certainly seem to be an option but so are lanes here at times. The more the merrier. You move where you want when you want and remarkably there is no such thing as road rage anywhere to be seen. Everyone works together. And the idea of honking works, it is simply a means to let someone know that you are there. Only the driver need where the helmet and as many people as you can fit on the scooter goes. 5 is the record so far. We enjoyed the beach in Nai Harn for a few days while we became oriented to the lay of the land. The boys enjoyed a natural river that flows to the bay and acts as a perfect water slide when the tide is heading out.

Next stop was the more industrialized town of Chalong. Here we dug in and completed as many projects as quickly as possible. Time to regalvanize the entire 300 feet and 300 lbs. of anchor chain, new covers for the dinghy, fix leaky sinks, clogged heads and repair the sails. We mastered the art of riding the scooters ourselves and discovered that a shopping mall in Phuket, Thailand looks just like home. We still prefer to frequent the night time open air markets where you can find everything from crickets to hand crochet skirts, pigs feet or frog legs to engine parts. Next stop was Phang Nga as we anchored just outside of Yacht Haven Marina. Too rich for our blood, we were happy to be able to utilize their resources just the same. It was the perfect place for s/v Moorea, Luna and Pelikaan to settle and celebrate Christmas Eve with us, complete with a white elephant gift party and our traditional chili for dinner. From here we really spread out our wings and explored the rest of the bays. In these waters are amazing "karst" formations which are spires and caves created out of limestone. Often they look like giant rocks creating their own drip candle effects and mazes of caves to explore in a dinghy or kayak. The big tourist draw here is James Bond Island where "The Man with the Golden Gun" was filmed. Interesting to see but if you search around a bit there are much more fascinating finds to spy. Such as the stilt village where a dear friend of ours picked up a nasty dose of Dungue fever.

On the east side of the bay we anchored just off the little town of Railay. Accessible only by boat, it is a gem of a place to stay and play amongst the rocks. Famous for it's rock climbing routes we took the opportunity and put our harnesses back to their intended use, not just for climbing the mast anymore. It was here that we rung in the New Year with the Kelly's and from our boats. We had the wonderful opportunity to watch hundreds of lanterns be lit and launched from shore up and over our masts all night to a back ground of fireworks displays and a great beat of music that echoed from the shores until 5am.

From there we made a quick stop at the world famous Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Ley beaches where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. Though not very large of an area you would be amazed how many boats and people can fit onto it. Tourism at it's finest. We have to say though that the sand there was the whitest and softest we had seen in a while, nearly like powdered sugar. A bit too crowded for us so again we were on our way back to our new favorite stop in Ao Chalong.

Lisa's parents then came to visit and took Lisa and the boys on a whirl wind tour of Hanoi & Saigon, Vietnam and a quick stop in Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit one of the wonders of the world, Angkor Wat. Not even a bout of stomach flu for 3 out of the 5 travelers could dampen this adventure. Poor Bruce was left behind to tend to the boat but upon the travelers return we hit all our favorite haunts one more time with our company before preparing to depart Thailand. Which brings us to today. We are packed and ready to roll with the Maldive Islands in our sights. An 11 day crossing or so ahead of us. Best of all, the web page is updated through Indonesia with some new nuggets, such as a couple of YouTube clips of Krakatau's eruption if you hadn't already seen it. That's all for now. With the passage ahead and a lot of night watches, the Thailand web page should be ready to upload as soon as we find some more internet. Take care.
until next time,
your crew on Ohana Kai
Bruce, Lisa, Tristan and Matthew

Mentawai

2007-11-16T04:28:00.000-08:00

11/10/07
Siberut Island, Mentawai
Pulau Masokut
coordinates 01.49.615S,099.15.338E

You can definitely tell that we are nearing the equator again. When the sun is out it can be blazing above 90 degrees, the water a balmy 86 degrees. The monsoon season is about to begin as well though, so the majority of the days can be cloud covered and raining buckets. Our freshwater tanks are always full but nothing ever has the chance to dry out with the humidity. You can nearly watch the mold grow on the inside of the hatches and any utensil that considered rusting is letting loose now.
Electronic equipment such as computers and cameras are beginning to struggle as well but keep limping along while we baby them. The surroundings are beautiful if you have to sit/surf in the rain somewhere. We are having a wonderful time getting in our exercise before our chances for surfing are gone. Once we leave Indonesia they diminish greatly. The islands are thick with lush green palm trees surrounded by white sand beaches and turquoise waters. Being so remote we rarely see another vessel
shy of a few surf charters and local fishing boats.

We are slowly hopping our way up through the islands. Most of the islands and anchorages around here are actually known by their surf location name as given by charter captains. Mentawaian's actually has their own dialect as well separate from Bahasa, which makes communication even more challenging. Depending which map or guide book you look at the island or anchorage may have 2 or 3 different names. Southern and Northern Pagai, Sipora, and Siberut Islands are the main ones we have been hovering
around. The main islands are surrounded by hundreds of smaller, lesser named ones where we usually end up finding our anchorages. Thanks to some great charter boat captain's we have met out here, they have provided us with some great info and connections along the way. Since the most recent earthquake a month or two ago, the reefs and islands geography has changed as great as 1 to 3 feet depending on which side of the island you are standing. Quite amazing.

We spent a fun and wet Halloween in a place called Rag's or Teluk Pasangan just off of Southern Pagai, complete with carved watermelons and scary movies. The next couple of days we spent in a great location called Macaroni's, found off the west coast of Northern Pagai. Tristan had the opportunity to catch his last wave as an eleven year old and his first wave as a twelve year old with 20 of his closest australian surfer friends off a charter boat sharing the bay with us. Amazingly fun and supportive,
this crowd of surfers shall we say are of the more mature nature (i.e. pot bellies and pocket books), and let the little kid on the block drop in on them whenever he could. From there we headed up the way to Lance's Lefts, a surf break located off the town of Katiet, the main village on the southern peninsula of Sipura Island. We found a wonderful beach break there that everyone, including the locals on the bashed, beaten, often no tip boards were riding away. Great fun.
Bought a few carvings and on our way again.

Next stop was the town of Topejat. A major town by all standards out here. Complete with large supply ships and fuel. Good for us, since everyone was beginning to watch the fuel gauges bounce around the big E sign. Even better was a ton of wonderful produce. The only true excitement here was in the middle of the night, Ohana Kai's rudder managed to find a big beautiful SHALLOW coral bommie and crunch, took a bight out of the side we later discovered. Only about an 1/2" x 1" x 2". Once we reached
clear water in which we could dive and check it out we were able to place a patch on it and all's well. The guide books failed to mention that one.

Fast in and fast out and we were on our way towards the island of Siberut. A quick one night stop nestled between the islands of Pulau (Island) Karangmajat and Pulau Penanggalansabeu, also known as 4 Bob's. Before the rain hit, it was the picture perfect scene with a white sand beach arising out of the waters dotted with just a few palm trees. The deserted island you dream of. Every island surrounding us looks as though Max and his band of Wild Things could come parading out of the jungle at
any moment.

Finally we settled for a weeks worth of play near the island of Dodiki or Roniki depending on the chart and a surf break known as Burgerworld. Again we were able to hunt the coasts and find a beach break for everyone in the morning and when the wind was down, The big boy surfed Burgerworld in the afternoons. With only a few days left before we head to the mainland Sumatra, city of Padang to check out of the country, we are giving Pulau Masokut a quick try. The road less traveled has been serving
us well so far. Not sure if we are ready to head back on into the crazy city scene of Phuket and Thailand. Give us the chance though and we are sure we could find a road less traveled there as well.
until next time,
your crew on Ohana Kai

Gunung Krakatoa Erupts!

2007-11-06T01:12:00.000-08:00

10/22/07
Gunung Krakatoa
coordinates 06.08.551S,105.25.461E

Famous for being one if not the loudest recorded explosion in history, Gunung (Mount) Krakatoa blew itself nearly to extinction in 1883. Sending ash as far as Singapore and tsumami waves as far as Aden in the Red Sea in a mere 12 hours. A distance that great would take a steam ship 12 days. It is nestled between the islands of Java and Sumatra. In the caldera of the old volcano is a beautiful anchorage that allowed the Kelly's on s/v Moorea and us to anchor for a couple of nights and be treated
to one of the worlds true wonders. After a tumultuous sail in which we blew out both our spinnaker halyard and the webbing to our head sail, we limped our way into the anchorage at sunset and managed to anchor in the dark. Something we try not to do often especially in such unfamiliar and uncharted territory. The currents and winds were so strange in this setting that both vessels put out bow and stern anchors and still had to raft up together to make sure we didn't bump each other unintentionally
at night. As we did enter the bay that evening we could see Anak Krakatoa, or the child of Krakatoa in Indonesian. It is a second volcano that has grown up two miles away in the shadow of it's father. A classic looking volcano if ever there was one complete with the open crater on top, though rather quiet and dormant we heard for the last few years.

We awoke the next morning to check out our new surrounding in day light. The plan was to repair our new projects and possibly take a hike up the volcano, which our guide books say, "An average overweight cruiser could do in just over an hour". We were in. Plans change though, and just as Bruce entered the cockpit of the boat for that morning stretch, Kaboom! Anak Krakatoa erupted a new crater right out it's southern side. We grabbed cameras and video's to try to capture the event. We were stunned.
Unbelievably, we watched as rock, ash and lava shot hundreds of feet into the air, creating majestic mushroom clouds, sending boulders to the sea and slides of earth down it's sides. The sounds would echo in our chests and eardrums. Simply amazing. After that initial explosion, it continued throughout the entire day on regular intervals sending plumes of smoke into the sky and the occasional land slide to the sea. It certainly kept us entertained as we tried to focus and finish the work we needed
to do. That night we all had dinner together and were pleasantly surprised again to get a continued show with eruptions of red lava up into the dark night sky. If that wasn't enough, Mother Nature added a lightning show for the Grand Finale. With all the lightning and storms came rain which we tried to capture. I suppose we shouldn't have been surprised when we tasted it only to find it to be acid rain. The taste was terrible and it would take the varnish off the table if you let a drop sit
too long.

Though we could have sat there and been mesmerized by the display for days, our projects were completed and it was time to head on down the road. In hindsight, how blessed that it blew when it did. We were fortunate in many ways with this stop. If it had delayed itself by even a few hours we would have been hiking up it and had a much more close and personal look that we would have liked. How wonderful to have the opportunity to witness such and event.
until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew

Bali and beyond

2007-11-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

October 16, 2007
Bali, Indonesia
coordinates 08.44.726S,115.12.611E

We are departing Bali after a fun and fruitful stay in the marina at Benoa Harbor. To begin with, the entrance heading down the channel to reach the marina was almost more fun than we could handle. After nearly 6 weeks out in the more remote islands without so much more than the sight of a small fishing boat we were thrown into sensory overload. Surrounded by a dozen para-sailers floating above our heads, throw in 6 of the strangest looking air mattresses on steroids that hold 2 passengers wearing
helmets and at high speeds behind a boat and actually float 20 feet or more in the air. Add a few jet skiis, a touch or two of banana float riders and an occasional elderly man fishing in a traditional outrigger all together in a rather narrow channel and you have the perfect recipe for marine madness. It got our attention as we tried to anchor somewhere between the tugboats and the container ships that also share the water way.

The following day we found a spot in the marina which we have to say is run the by the most friendly and professional staff we have EVER had the pleasure of meeting! We got in contact with our friends Frank, Jeni and Abby from s/v Sea Kardinal who now live in Bali while they, as architects, are busy building a traditional wooden 140 foot sail boat for a customer up in Kalimantan. Stunning! They are enjoying life on land for the first time in 20 years in a lovely Balinese home just up the road
in Sanur. We got the hang of life back on the dock ourselves and immediately out came the boys scooters and they were off. Within walking distance were some family run warung (Indonesian eatery) and for about 7-8 USD you can stuff a family of four with all the food and drinks you can handle.

The two weeks were filled with practicing our language skills shopping, cleaning and repairing all of our boating needs. Kuta, the nearest town and site of the Bali bombings was a wonderful place to shop for trinkets and goodies as long as you are prepared to fend off the strongest of hawkers and willing to play the bargaining game. Simply making eye contact or touching an item is nearly an acceptance to purchase around here. Where we might consider it rude to ignore someone at home it is merely
an essential survival tactic out here. We toured Bali with Nyomen, friend and cook of the Sea Kardinal household. He patiently showed us the sight, sounds, smells and tastes of Bali of which there are many. From dormant volcanos, elaborate temples, acres of green rice fields and hot springs, to fascinating traditional legong dances, forests of monkeys and coffee tasting, I believe we covered it all. We can never get enough of local open air markets and are still finding new foods. The boys had
a day of riding elephants with Abby and we enjoyed a delicious traditional meal cooked by Nyomen at the Sea Kardinal home. A very special treat.

Last but not least we extended our visa's for another 30 days. Murphy's law, as always, works it's magic when it sees the opportunity. You may only extend the visa one week before it expires. That week happened to coincide with the final week of Ramadan or Idul Fitri for us. Of course that meant that all the offices and powers that be would be closed and unavailable that one week. They wouldn't complete it earlier but if we waited we would be penalized for doing it too late. Rock and a Hard
Place = $. Luckily for us, Jeni and Frank already have some great contacts who "knew someone" that for the right price got the paperwork done in a day. In the country full of smiles money will still get you farther and faster than a hand shake.

As much as one can find a way to grease the wheel around here you can also find the equally honest and hard working people. Asis was one such man. He leaves his family behind on the island of Flores to come to the marina to find work and make money to send home to them for 5 months out of the year. For 100,000 rupiah, approximately $10, he will work diligently on your boat for 8 hours straight in the blazing heat, barely stopping for lunch. He was a dear sweet man who was anxious to get home
to see his new 2 month old son for the first time. If we ever make it back to Flores, we have a friend waiting.
Though there was so much more to see and do in Bali we only have 30 more days to make our way though the end of this alluring country. So off to Java and Sumatra.
until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew

Lombok

2007-10-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

9/20/2007
Teluk Awang (Awang Bay), Lombok
Ekas surf break
coordinates 08.53.158S,116.26.604E

After departing Periscopes in East Sumbawa we had some distance to cover to make it too the next anchorage. We tried our luck by stopping at Scar reef, another potential surf spot in west Sumbawa approx. 110 miles away. The surf wasn't running there which actually worked out well as we had to deal with our anchor. The salt water environment is rough on everything including the anchor chain. Over time it had eroded enough of the links that they wouldn't hold well in our windless, which is the
electric wench that pulls up the anchor from it's depths. We ended up drifting, intentionally, in the bay while we hauled all 300 feet of chain up onto the deck and changed it out end for end, so the fresh links were now the first to hit the water. While it is on deck you have to measure it out and place markers every 20 feet so that you have a visual when you are setting the anchor to know just how much you have let out. Task done, on to find more surfing.

Ekas, Lombok
It just gets better and better. Though this bay wasn't much to look at, it was peaceful and serene with the most ideal waves for all involved yet! Everyone had the best time there and making great strides in their skill, confidence and most importantly all out fun. Four days there and the swell died out. Unfortunately we are on borrowed time while we try to get to Bali and renew our Visa's for another 30 days, we headed on as well.

Gerupuk was the next bay on the stop. Largely an Asian vacation destination it is home to Lauken resort. 6 small and stylish bungalows, complete with a pool, any of which can be yours for 2 weeks $550, all transportation and needs met. The town itself is terribly run down though the guide books say that it is much improved after the start of seaweed farming here. Which reminds me of just what a mine field of seaweed beds we had to dodge and weave around to get into the protected bay. We had
a very nice time here with some great surfing as well but a bit crowded and we had become spoiled with waves all to ourselves. On shore we met Matt, a local with an adorable wife and daughter Lina and Lira. He took us under his wing and arranged for us to go to the local market in Kuta. We purchased some great pottery, local woven hats and some beautiful hand made ikat blankets or sarongs from Matt's family.

Blongas Bay just 23 miles down the road we discovered what we have renamed Beggars Bay. As soon as we were anchored and the fishermen began to come in or head out to fish, they descended upon and surrounded each boat one at a time. We had 10 outriggers around us at one time. What we had never seen before was local that weren't here to trade, they just wanted hand outs and were then choosy about what they received. Even upon receiving gifts they wouldn't necessarily leave, just hang on to the
boat and not talk. At 6 am Bruce rolled out of bed and there they were already, hanging onto the back and staring down into the cabin. One night here and we were on our way.

We had a quick stop at Nusa Cenida or Lembogan which is just across the bay from the island of Bali itself. It helped to ease us back into the crazy pace of big city life again as we were surrounded by recreational water crafts and mini cruise ships. They even have giant floating water slide parks. On shore it was a bit more peaceful. Hindu is the main religion here and we were just beginning to be introduced to the wonderful offerings of flowers, foods and incense that are left everywhere many
times a day to appease the spirits. The aromatic imprint that Bali provides between sandalwood, cloves and fragapani will stick with us forever.

It was also in Lembogan that we got our first true taste of just how amazingly strong those women are who carry the baskets of good on their head. No matter the items to be couried around, flowers, veggies, melons, potatoes, they dutifully raise the basket to their head and deliver. We were at a market when one gal brought by the days goods to sell and it took some help to lift it off her head. Kelly boy and Bruce decided to investigate the weight of the basket and at first attempt it took them
by surprise at just how heavy it was. The baskets themselves though only woven reeds, have to be at least 3 feet across so you can imagine just how much stuff you can fill it with. We figure it had to be 50 - 70 lbs. Yikes!!! We are sure we have found only one of many ways to measure the strength of the people of this beautiful land.
until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew

Sumbawa

2007-10-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

9/18/07
Sumbawa Island, Periscopes & Lakey Beach
coordinates 08.47.491S,118.22.619E

Technically we were anchored up inside Teluk Cempi or Cempi Bay. Not many tourists make it out this way except for the "surf" crowd heading for Periscopes and Lakey Beach. We found ourselves in recreation heaven. Just beside where we anchored the boats was a break built to satisfy all. The week that we happened upon this location that the waters were nearing high tide right after sun up. Perfect for surfing. The inside wave was just right for the kids, the middle for the mom's and the outside
break for the big boys. We could wake up, put in 3-4 hours of surfing before the wind would pick up. Back to the boats for a quick lunch, kids would start school and the big boys would grab their wind surf boards and kites and take off again for another few hours of play. We are certainly not complaining but all this play is exhausting. hee hee On shore we found a really nice hotel/restaurant the Aman Gati. Only $17/night to stay and about the same price to stuff a family of four with a fantastic
meal and drinks. A large screen hangs above showing surf movies and the sun sets in front of you. Paradise found. Though we didn't try it out there was a nice pool there as well. And always, a beach full of seashell treasures that continues to give our boats extra ballast.

We did have a small run in with Indonesian officialdom. Our second day there a long fishing boat appeared near s/v Luna first and boarded before the crew knew what happened. One official man in a uniform complete with motorcycle helmet on (a little strange to see out at sea) and 6 of his closest young male friends. After 45 mins. on their boat they boarded and spent another 45 on ours. Luckily Luna and Pelikaan speak Dutch and got the word out to each other and then to us of the nature of this
meeting before we were boarded but that didn't change much. Of course the interpreter's first words are "We want to make this very quick". HA! Clearly they were there for money, which we are more than happy to give. Let's just be honest about it's purpose though. If it is a bribe, make it a bribe, if it is an anchoring fee, make it be so. The official, who would never make eye contact with us, spent nearly the entire time arguing with his interpreter, who was always ever so kind to us. The 5
other cronies, kind and friendly as they were, perused the entire boat picking up and trying anything that fancied them, sunglasses, binoculars and so on. It was almost like a good cop, bad cop routine right before our eyes with added distractions. Their first request was 1 million rupiah. We flat out refused. OK, how about 500,000 rupiah. We said no again and then the arguing began. We were given reasons ranging from anchoring fees, parking tickets, paperwork out of order, surfing the break
fee, etc. etc. etc. We had planned ahead and emptied our wallets of everything but what we had pre-determined we would be willing to pay. Two could play this game we figured. We were wrong. We tried to play the hard sell and that only angered him more. Each time we met his match he found another angle until the poor little interpreter was so visibly disturbed by the officials tactics that he left the boat himself. At one point the official threatened to keep our paper work and that was all we
could take. We said no way. We tried to call his bluff and ask for his superior's name. He didn't even flinch and provided us with the perfect spelling. We said we had no more money. If he took all of ours what would we eat with. They offered us a ride into town on their scooters. We finally offered a few US dollars in addition to the amount we had to give and all 7 members of the team chimed in with agreement. Take the amount of money given by 4 boats and all 7 members of this official crew
were getting a nice payment for a days work. As they left, we quickly called over to the Kelly's to let them know of the proceedings. The Kelly's tried the hard sell as well and this time the official was done discussing. He quickly placed their paper work in his bag and left their boat stating that one of his workers would take them into town to get more money. He refused to travel back to the office with them and it would cost them 250,000 more rupiah to rent the car to get there and get the
money. Go figure. Kelly boy pretended to row back out to our boats and borrow the money from us so they could pay him off and get their paperwork back. It worked.

Lesson to be learned. Don't mess around with 7 hot, hungry men (we discovered they are currently fasting for Ramadan) who have nothing to lose and everything to gain whilst they sit on your boat and hold your paperwork in their hands. Good thing we didn't offer snacks and really offend them. Next time we have a new game plan. Two can play the strength in numbers game. When the official boards one boat we will all descend upon the boat as well with the pretense of getting them all done at once.
At least he can't change the story from boat to boat and we might have a better chance of getting the price fixed. We shall see. Having said this we are sure there will be a whole new bag of tricks the next time.
until then,
your crew on Ohana Kai

Rinca

2007-10-27T03:35:00.000-07:00

September 12, 2007
Lehok Uwada Desami & Lehok Ginggo, Rinca Island
coordinates 08.42.211S,119.39.601E

We departed Roti with the escort of dolphins, always a good omen and enjoyed a quick and easy double overnighter to reach the island of Rinca. We pulled in to the anchorage in the afternoon and quickly deployed the dinghy to start our search for Komodo Dragons. I don't think that we ever really thought that we would see too many or if we did it would be more like that video footage of big foot. You know, very aloof and far away. Within minutes Bruce and Matthew, who were running recognizance found
loads of tracks made by the beasts and before you know it they sighted one just like we suspected. Walking away quietly into the jungle. So excited the raced back to tell us the news and bring us to see. Along the way we were all tickled to see deer and monkeys running back and forth to the water as the sun was setting. Our pals on Luna and Pelikaan had anchored by this point and we were all on the hunt. By the time we ended our exploration of the shore and were heading back to our boats, we
spotted another one right on the beach off our boats. These creatures are powerful looking and command your attention. They don't get more prehistoric looking than this. They move with such a slow deliberate pace and stop to smell each footprint you've left behind. I don't care how slow they look, we never turned our backs. They certainly have stealth on their side. Thinking we were so blessed to have seen this one up close (close being a relative term), we didn't think it could get any better.
Weren't we surprised.

The next morning every one ventured ashore just beyond a large rock formation where a local fishing vessel had come in from a nights work. Pelikaan landed there first and were quick to call us when they discovered the locals feeding some really large komodo dragons left over fish pieces. What a treat for us to see them in action. We walked softly and carried our own big sticks. They are curious enough creatures and certainly not afraid of us. They would circle the dinghies and corral all 13
of us to what ever part of the beach when they felt the need to lay out the boundaries and ownership of the sand. We gladly obliged. Though you can't really see their teeth much we have no doubt at the injury they can inflict. It is actually the saliva that is so dangerous, creating severe infections in the animal that they take down. At most we had the privilege to see four at a time walking the beach. Indigenous to only Rinca Island, Komodo Island and a few on the coast of Flores we believe
the species is doing well here.

The kids spent the rest of the morning collecting debris, abandoned logs and twine from the shore to recreate their own Kon Tiki. With much work and perseverance they got it afloat and even managed to catch their own fish by hand and spear to cook on the bon fire that night. Robinson Crusoe has nothing on them. We got in one quick dive for those with tanks and snorkel for the rest of us. It never fails to amaze us when we find new corals and colors we haven't seen before. Isn't this world wonderful.
The next day we departed for the north end of the island to prepare an extraordinary birthday party for Matthew's and Soleil from s/v Luna who were both turning the big #9.

A very protected anchorage tucked way up inside the island all four boats setting to stay for a day or two. We all took to shore and hiked to the top of the ridge to admire the view. Always fun to see our boats from a different point of view. It was so blazing hot though that by the time we made it back down to shore all we could do was dive in and enjoy the perfectly temperate waters.

September 11 was our big day of fun and festivities. We divided the fleet into adults and kids and the games began. Potato on a spoon races, obstacle courses, three legged races, consumer relays (which involve eating a variety of foods and a lot of monkey business), water works relays and of course a treasure hunt complete with compass to navigate in order to find the buried treasures. We even had the special treat of a komodo dragon making his was quickly through the party. Not many 9 year old's
can say that! Cake and goodies was topped only by the bonfire complete with marshmallows, who could ask for more.

The only thing that could make the stop better was the glassy lake like water conditions that next morning that begged for some wake boarding. We couldn't let that opportunity pass so we each took a few laps until the winds picked up. When the winds raise up so do the sails and we were off again. Next stop, the island of Sumbawa.
until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew

Sumbawa Island

2007-10-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

9/18/07
Sumbawa Island, Periscopes & Lakey Beach
coordinates 08.47.491S,118.22.619E

Technically we were anchored up inside Teluk Cempi or Cempi Bay. Not many tourists make it out this way except for the "surf" crowd heading for Periscopes and Lakey Beach. We found ourselves in recreation heaven. Just beside where we anchored the boats was a break built to satisfy all. The week that we happened upon this location that the waters were nearing high tide right after sun up. Perfect for surfing. The inside wave was just right for the kids, the middle for the mom's and the outside break for the big boys. We could wake up, put in 3-4 hours of surfing before the wind would pick up. Back to the boats for a quick lunch, kids would start school and the big boys would grab their wind surf boards and kites and take off again for another few hours of play. We are certainly not complaining but all this play is exhausting. hee hee On shore we found a really nice hotel/restaurant the Aman Gati. Only $17/night to stay and about the same price to stuff a family of four with a fantastic meal and drinks. A large screen hangs above showing surf movies and the sun sets in front of you. Paradise found. Though we didn't try it out there was a nice pool there as well. And always, a beach full of seashell treasures that continues to give our boats extra ballast.

We did have a small run in with local Indonesian officialdom. Our second day there a long fishing boat appeared near s/v Luna first and boarded before the crew knew what happened. One official man in a uniform complete with motorcycle helmet on (a little strange to see out at sea) and 6 of his closest young male friends. After 45 mins. on their boat they boarded and spent another 45 on ours. Luckily Luna and Pelikaan speak Dutch and got the word out to each other and then to us of the nature of this meeting before we were boarded but that didn't change much. Of course the interpreter's first words are "We want to make this very quick". HA! Clearly they were there for money, which we are more than happy to give. Let's just be honest about it's purpose though. If it is a bribe, make it a bribe, if it is an anchoring fee, make it be so. The official, who would never make eye contact with us, spent nearly the entire time arguing with his interpreter, who was always ever so kind to us. The 5 other cronies, kind and friendly as they were, perused the entire boat picking up and trying anything that fancied them, sunglasses, binoculars and so on. It was almost like a good cop, bad cop routine right before our eyes with added distractions. Their first request was 1 million rupiah. We flat out refused. OK, how about 500,000 rupiah. We said no again and then the arguing began. We were given reasons ranging from anchoring fees, parking tickets, paperwork out of order, surfing the break fee, etc. etc. etc. We had planned ahead and emptied our wallets of everything but what we had pre-determined we would be willing to pay. Two could play this game we figured. We were wrong. We tried to play the hard sell and that only angered him more. Each time we met his match he found another angle until the poor little interpreter was so visibly disturbed by the officials tactics that he left the boat himself. At one point the official threatened to keep our paper work and that was all we could take. We said no way. We tried to call his bluff and ask for his superior's name. He didn't even flinch and provided us with the perfect spelling. We said we had no more money. If he took all of ours what would we eat with. They offered us a ride into town on their scooters. We finally offered a few US dollars in addition to the amount we had to give and all 7 members of the team chimed in with agreement. Take the amount of money given by 4 boats and all 7 members of this official crew were getting a nice payment for a days work. As they left, we quickly called over to the Kelly's to let them know of the proceedings. The Kelly's tried the hard sell as well and this time the official was done discussing. He quickly placed their paper work in his bag and left their boat stating that one of his workers would take them into town to get more money. He refused to travel back to the office with them and it would cost them 250,000 more rupiah to rent the car to get there and get the money. Go figure. Kelly boy pretended to row back out to our boats and borrow the money from us so they could pay him off and get their paperwork back. It worked.

Lesson to be learned. Don't mess around with 7 hot, hungry men (we discovered they are currently fasting for Ramadan) who have nothing to lose and everything to gain whilst they sit on your boat and hold your paperwork in their hands. Good thing we didn't offer snacks and really offend them. Next time we have a new game plan. Two can play the strength in numbers game. When the official boards one boat we will all descend upon the boat as well with the pretense of getting them all done at once. At least he can't change the story from boat to boat and we might have a better chance of getting the price fixed. We shall see. Having said this we are sure there will be a whole new bag of tricks the next time.
until then,
your crew on Ohana Kai

Rinca Island

2007-10-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

September 7, 2007
Lehok Uwada Desami, Rinca Island
coordinates 08.42.209S,119.39.602E

We came in search of the worlds largest lizards, Komodo Dragons and we were not disappointed! While dropping the hook we could see a dozen monkeys running from tree to shore and back again. We quickly launched the dinghy to see what else we could find before the sun set. At the far end of the bay Bruce and Matthew ran a reconnaissance mission, found tracks of many dragons on shore and much to their surprise spotted a couple of dragons. We thought it would be much harder to see the great creatures but they kept popping up everywhere. The next morning some local fishermen were on shore feeding the dragons some of the by catch from their evenings ventures. It gave us the perfect photo ops.

Komodo Dragons are large monitor lizards. They can grow to be over 3 meters long and weigh over 100kg. They are majestic and powerful looking when they are standing still but there is something amazing when they start striding on those stout and muscular legs. We hear they travel up to 22km/hour. They can cover some serious ground in a short quick burst when they want to. All komodo's are carnivores, eating everything from large deer to other small komodos. It was eerie to watch them track our footsteps with their keen smell. They kept us well herded on the edge of the beach even if we were the ones holding the long stick. Though we didn't have any troubles with them, we wouldn't think of leaving the kids on the beach alone. We took a quick snorkel/dive on a local coral head and saw some amazing aquatic life. More varieties of coral than we had ever seen before. It was so tempting when we spotted some lovely pure white large cowries, if only they weren't occupied. The kids from Luna, Pelikaan and our boys found this beach to have the perfect collection of scrap bamboo and drift wood to recreate Kon Tiki and spent the day conquering the bay on their self built vessel. Complete with their own home made bows/arrows and spears, they even caught themselves some fine little fish to cook over the fire. I believe they could give Robinson Crusoe a run for his money. On to the north end of the island for more adventure.

Lehok Ginggo, Rinca
A well protected anchorage provided the perfect backdrop for Matthew's 9th birthday. With all the crews from Luna, Pelikaan, Moorea and ourselves we trekked up to the top of the island for a great day hike and then an afternoon swim. Next day was filled with the festivities and games of a joint birthday party for Soleil from s/v Luna as she was turning 9 in a couple of weeks herself. 3 legged races, water works, consumer relays, obstacle courses in which all crew members, adult and child alike, had to participate. And of course no treasure hunt would be complete without a compass in hand and a komodo dragon to cross your path. We are trying to impress on Matthew that not many 9 years old's can say that! Our last morning there was remarkably calm so we whipped out the wake board and took a couple of laps around the bay before the winds picked up and carried us on to our next destination, the island of Sumbawa.
until next time,
your crew on Ohana Kai

Nembrala, Roti

2007-09-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

September 6, 2007
coordinates 10.52.980S,122.49.121E
Nembrala, Roti East Nusa Tenggara

We have found a little piece of heaven here in Indonesia. The absolute opposite to Kupang in a little anchorage called Nembrala on the island of Roti. After a most pleasant overnight sail from Kupang we drifted into the anchorage to find our pals on Luna and Pelikaan holding our place here. Of course they were already out surfing on one of 3 breaks that would keep us entertained for the next week. We dropped the hook and were out on our boards before the boat had settled. The swell was up and
all 3 breaks were going off consistently so you had your choice of sessions, sunrise to sunset. Everyone had a great time and at the very least got some great exercise.

Shore side was the next surprise. The town was more developed than we had imagined with a paved road but still remote, clean and quiet. Most homes consist of a surprisingly large concrete building with a few rooms and lovely paned windows and many smaller thatched huts behind. The bathrooms or waysays often have a large tub of water that is only used by scooping out the water with a cup and pouring it over yourself for a shower or down the toilet. Many of the homes here are also "losemen" or
homestays like a hostel and for only $3-5/day you will be well cared for and 3 warm meals. Goats and pigs walk freely about the town and though we could never tell, I am sure the owners know who belongs to whom. Many homes also make crafts such as jewelry and ikat, a hand woven cloth where each strand of thread is dyed first and then the design woven into place. We did quickly discover that they have a sales technique we hadn't yet encountered. They simply board your boat ready or not. They
are always very pleasant and happy to just sit and stay a while, even if you are not purchasing. Happy to go eventually and never seemingly offended. The first true Indonesian phrase we have learned though is Thank You, I Don't Want It - say it with me, "Terima kasih, Tidak mau" - very good!

The only true noise to be heard around the island is the "tuk tuk tuk" sound that their colorful and diverse fishing vessels make as they pass by morning and night. They head out each evening to begin their fishing and "tuk tuk tuk" back in each morning with the sun for some sleep. The smaller vessels are a marvel at how they even float first for being so narrow and tippy looking, secondly for holding so many men. How they maneuver and fish is a wonder. The larger vessels are a combination of
gigantic outriggers held together with a weave of lines that could equal any suspension bridge. Despite all this fishing going on though, we never saw any fish to eat at the market aside from the piles of dried sardines.

What they do have on shore are seaweed farms. Low lying mesh fences staked into the grounds like a garden that sit under water in everything but the lowest tides. They grow this plump twig like sea weed that they collect daily. As soon as high tide turns to head out the women are out there to collect pieces that start to wash up to shore. As low tide emerges, they spend hours of bent over back breaking work collecting this green crop and placing it into 2 large mesh bags that they then carry
over their shoulders with a long stick, yoke style. Once it is cleaned up, it is laid out to dry on large tables of palm leaves. For their efforts, they receive 15,000 rupiah per kilogram. That is less than $2.00 a bag for you and me at home. Their water is retrieved in much the same fashion from fresh water wells around the island, double bucket yoke style. I mention this because this is the woman's job around here. Never did we see men carrying either. All this back breaking work leads to
lot of sweet little old women hunched over and in a fair amount of pain we imagine. Well if Vanuatu and Fiji had their kava to forget their woes and ease their pains, Indonesia has their betel nut.

Evident by their red stained lips, teeth and gums, betel nut, or sirih pinang is a combination of 3 parts of the betel palm tree. The green stalk looks remotely like a limp green bean with a funny texture, the nut looks like a tiny immature coconut seed and the lime, a white powdery substance. Combine all three in your mouth often with a bit of shredded looking tobacco, chew like a mad man and you will eventually have a mild stimulant like effect of nicotine, and a mouth full of red spit, which
of course ends up on the ground. Watch where you step. The market in town holds as many piles of this for sale as any other product or produce available.

Two perfect weeks quickly passed right under our noses here in this little paradise. The kids all enjoyed afternoons of body surfing and sand castle building. They even managed to get the local kids to finally break down and join them. Always eager for a photo opportunity they were a little more hesitant to actually join in the play. The adults enjoyed the occasional drink at the local hut on shore to watch the sun set. We placed our orders for fresh bread and somewhat begrudgingly pulled anchor
to find our next adventure. We are all heading north to the islands of Rinca and Komodo, as the name suggests, in search of dragons. We'll let you know what we find.
until next time,
Selamat tinggal,
your crew on Ohana Kai

Kupang, West Timor

2007-09-06T16:28:00.000-07:00

August 23, 2007
coordinates 10.09.600S,132.34.533E
Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia
Selamat Pagi,

We entered Indonesia last week through the port of Kupang in West Timor. It was a little sad to see the bread crumbs of litter that led us into the bay and to the anchorage. You can hear horns honking from shore to the boat, it is a form of communication that they have mastered. The city itself is crowded, dirty and extremely noisy but with all that buzz comes it's own excitement. At the boat we were greeted by a young man named On who was to be our guide the next day and help us navigate the
system. Let's just say he is worth his weight in gold. For starters, we had reset our clocks incorrectly to the new time zone and showed up an hour early, at 6:30 am on shore, and there he was. To kill the time before Immigration and Quarantine offices opened up, he helped us to learn how to navigate the buses (bemos) and hop an early morning ride on the back of his friends scooters to visit an abandoned money zoo of sorts. There is nothing like sitting 3 people deep, on tiny scooters, with the
wind in your hair, at 7am through the streets of Kupang to visit monkeys! An amazing experience while we sat there for a couple of hours and fed them corn kernels, some brave enough to take it from our hands.

Once we cleared customs, On continued to help us navigate no less that 9 of these buses, which by all purposes are interesting sized and shaped mini van, in which you sit sideways on a long bench, bent over if you are any taller than Lisa, with 10-12 of your closest Indonesian friends, all the while trying to keep your ears from bleeding due the techno beat that is shaking you to the core. Heaven forbid the bemo next to you is playing louder music, your bemo will only match the cacophony. We have
entered the land of smiles though and your neighbor sitting next to you is always eager to share a grin, maybe a "Halo Mister, halo misses", and for the boys a good pinch or stroke of the hair. They can't keep their hands off the boys fair bodies. Too make them feel better about it we made it a game that each time someone touches them they are giving off good luck. They are not really buying it but tolerating it still.

On took us to the market where we tried our hand at getting the hang of the new exchange rate. With an exchange rate of approx. 20,000 Indonesian Rupiahs to $1 Australian dollar, it is hard to wrap your brain around paying $15,000 for a plate of food. Even stranger to think that we have entered this country with billions of their dollars and yet everything is so inexpensive. We are quickly getting the hang of their language, which right off the back was a fun challenge when there are 5 or more
different ways to say hello depending on where the sun hangs in the sky at the time of your greeting. We thought we were really doing well when a man patted the boys and said "Bagus, Lucky". We understood him and in all our wisdom, we replied, Yes, we do have good boys and we are lucky. "Bagus" we knew to mean good but later while reviewing my book I found the word "Laki" pronounced "lucky" which actually means "son". Well, we were close.

A full day in town and our host made it known to us that the Customs agents were reportedly heading toward the anchorage and were told we should make haste out of there. There have been some boats stuck with expensive and unnecessary fines for checking into the country or else head back to Australia. Instead we were told to check into Bali when we arrive. Don't have to tell us twice and by sunset we were on our way to our next destination in the East Nusa Tenggara Islands Chain, Nembrala, Roti.
until next time
your crew on Ohana Kai

Australia

2007-08-23T01:27:00.001-07:00

August 23, 2007
Fannie Bay, Darwin, Northern Territory
12.25.517S,130.49.3433E

A quick respite in Australia and return to civilization. It always amazes us when we can smell the land long before we see it. Here it was the smell of campfires or what we now believe were the controlled burns that they regularly do to protect the land from fires and rejuvenate the soil. Our check in at Thursday Island went swiftly and smoothly. They are amazingly friendly and trust us, the Australian Coast Guard is good. No one is getting into or out of that country with out them knowing about
it. From there it took another few days of passage and we timed the tides just right to let the current help to suck us into the Darwin, Fannie Bay. Here we were reunited with some friends on the s/v Luna and s/v Pelikaan. Two more kid boats which was a great big deal and great fun. We haven't really seen a kid boat in nearly 3 months. They are heading to Indonesia and beyond as well so we'll have even more company along with the Kelly's as we travel.

What was meant to be a week stay easily turned into two while we got all our paper work for Indonesia ready to go. Never fear, we found plenty to do and kept well entertained. You can find a open air market or street fair nearly day of the week if desired. We certainly found it quite a few times. We mastered the Northern Territory bus system, completed our projects and repairs, caught the new Harry Potter film at the lovely air conditioned theater, witnessed the last performance of the "Amazing
Drumming Monkeys" puppet show at the Mindle Beach Sunset Market (the best), and of course reprovisioned. Best of all we are the proud new owners of a bull-roarer, boomerang, and a nice long didjeriydoo (imagine those music lessons on a sailboat). We had a great time looking at Aboriginal art and culture. Definitely a place we hope to come back and explore by land at great length some day. For now though we are off to Indonesia. A quick relaxing crossing of 4 days are we are nearly at our starting
destination of Kupang, West Timor.
Coordinates 10.09.385S,123.34.466
until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew

Australia

2007-08-23T01:27:00.000-07:00

August 23, 2007
Fannie Bay, Darwin, Northern Territory
12.25.517S,130.49.3433E

Crossing again

2007-08-04T15:37:00.003-07:00

July 19, 2007
Departing for Australia
The old sailing superstitions states that you never want to leave for a crossing on a Friday, bad luck. So we figured maybe we could double our luck by departing for Thursday Island on a Thursday. We shall see. An 11 day crossing to reach Torres Straight and then another 4 days to reach Darwin. Much can happen in that time. The weather reports look like good strong steady winds for the duration so under grey skies and many water drops we are on our way. The best luck of all may be that we inadvertently
found the answer to our engine trouble. Bruce knew all along in his gut that it was a fuel delivery issue, we just couldn't seem to find it. The prospect of how many hours and how much money it was going to take to find the problem in Australia was secretly getting us down. Well happy day and good news. We think the kill switch cable somehow had a kink in it that was not allowing it to fully disengage, thereby not allowing the flow of fuel needed to throttle up as necessary. Hopefully the fix
is true and will hold for good. If that is the case we bought ourselves a little more time for sightseeing along the way and relieved a lot of pressure off the captain. It seemed like such a quick and easy fix until we realized we had been battling this issue for an entire year. All in good time.

If Bruce doesn't have his projects to keep him busy he would go stir crazy I believe, so our girl Ohana Kai is much obliged to keep him going. He spent the morning harnessed up and strapped to the bow amid wind and waves while he did some maintenance repair stitches in the head sail. By night fall we had lost our auto pilot due to a sheered off bold on the arm of it. Thank goodness for dork lights and spare parts on a boat. The prospect of hand steering for the next 9 days was a bit daunting.
Never fear though, our captain can fix anything even if it is in the dark and upside down with 25 knot winds scooting us along.
until next time
your faithful Ohana Kai crew

~~~~~~~~~/)~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please remember not to hit reply when responding to messages with out deleting the old message first. Thank you.

Espiritu Santo

2007-08-04T15:37:00.001-07:00

July 13, 2007
coordinates 15.31.391S,167.09.912E

Our next destination was Espiritu Santo Island and just far enough away that we didn't want to do an over night passage so we made a stop back at the north end of Malekula Island. A quick overnight sleep tucked behind the little island of Wala and we were ready for our final push the next day. Regrettably our last stop in Vanuatu would be Luganville. We were running out of time and there were so many more outlying islands to visit. Once anchored in the bay of Luganville the weather turned very
wet and rainy. We spent the next 4 days dodging rain drops, resupplying the boats and finishing our paperwork to clear out of the country. Of greatest interest on Espiritu Santo Island is the role they played during WWII as a base for the US. There are many a relic of old war planes, cannons and such to see. Perhaps the most interesting though is Million Dollar point. The story goes as such, the war was over and the US was pulling out. They had a ton of extra equipment left there and offered
to sell it to the local government for a very good price at the time. Thinking they could get a better deal the Vanuatu government held out hoping to get the lot for free. The US said no way jose and dumped every piece into the ocean where it still rests as a marvelous dive site and now home to coral and sea creatures. There is also the USS Coolidge which sank here and is now a spectacular dive site as well we hear.

Luganville and Port Vila are really the only two towns of industry especially since they are both shipping ports. Therefore, the only few jobs to be had throughout the islands of Vanuatu are there. It you ask anyone on any of the other islands what they do for a job you will get the most perplexed look. Are you silly? There is no shame in not having a job and there is no desire either. Certainly not because they are lazy or have no desire to work. Quite the contrary. First it is too expensive
to live near the city for the amount of money you will earn, and there just aren't that many jobs. Outside those two ports of call the rest of the villagers are too busy tending their gardens to have a job. They are busy living life, surviving on what the earth has to provide them.

The running joke on the boat is that when we set sail for the islands we didn't expect to find natives in loin clothes with bones through their nose, but neither did we expect to find cell phones, satellite dishes and weed whackers in every yard. Maybe rather naive of us. Again, not that they don't deserve them, we just didn't think they had made it there yet. And we had hoped to travel the world to simply experience these other cultures in their own environment, not look like walking dollar signs
ready to hit every tourist trap possible. Though it took crossing the entire Pacific Ocean, we believe we have finally found this and much more in Vanuatu. They are happy making their way in their own world and they are happy to introduce you to it as well. There is an obvious respect and care for their world and land. They have all they need and they have dreams they are working toward, one coconut shell at a time. Always happy for assistance or a donation, as a rule you never felt pressured
or obligated to give. But who wouldn't want to share with such a generous and genuine people. We will miss Vanuatu.
until next time,
your faithful Ohana Kai crew

~~~~~~~~~/)~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please remember not to hit reply when responding to messages with out deleting the old message first. Thank you.

Ambrym

2007-08-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

July 10, 2007
coordinates 16.08.445S,168.07.169E

Ambrym, home to two active volcanos, Mt. Benbow and Mt. Marum. We anchored in front of the village of Ranon. The weather was with us again as we had a marvelous day sail there. Maybe just to celebrate our anniversary of 2 full years at sea, we had the luck of catching our very first wahoo. Actually we caught 2 of them, at the same time and they were each 4 ft. long. whew. Not wanting any to go to waste, we let one go and kept one for ourselves. There is enough meat on these massive creatures
to last us quite a while. Even with that, we gave half of it away to some local villagers out fishing, gave a bag away to the local harbor master Jeffrey and a bag to the Kelly's. What we had left, we feasted on for 2 or 3 days.

The weather was also on our side in terms of the anchorage. Due to the two volcanos so close to the shore, when the winds blow out of the S/SW, the air quality can become so bad with ash and fumes that we heard you may have to wear a cloth face mask in order to tolerate it. They can even have difficulties with acid rain that destroys their crops we heard. Our goal here was to head 45 mins. inland to the town of Fanla and witness the ROM Dance, exclusive only to this village. With light winds out
of the N, we would have no troubles.

Once anchored here you are immediately met by Jeffrey, the "harbor master". His house is the closest to the anchorage and he can get to you first in his outrigger, which is one reason why he got the job. Not to mention he speaks wonderful English and is quite a good will ambassador. Australia has a very significant volunteer force and had been instrumental in this community with helping them set up a visitor information center, and outlining various events and guided outtings that you can participate
in. It was here that we met Able, a kind young man who became our guide for our hike to Fanla. Enthusiastic and eager to tell us all about his island he was happy to do the talking, which was good. Our less than fit "yachty" bodies, which have spent more time sitting on boats than walking, focused on our breathing while hiked 45 mins. up through the jungle to the village of Fanla.

Vanuatu itself is famous for big and small namba dances. Namba refers to the woven pouch that fits over a males genitals, and big or small refers to how large and fancy the decorations are on that pouch. The Rom dance adds a new costume to it with men dressed from head to toe in giant costumes made of panadus leaves. It is difficult to describe except to say that they look like giant trees of sorts with intricately woven face masks that are pointy on top. Men throughout the islands go through
different "grades" as they call them. Usually by proving your strength and worth by how many pigs you can deliver. They go through different grades to reach the Rom dancer status. In the village they also did some exhibitions with playing their "tamtam" slit gong drums, bamboo flutes and sand drawings. Each act is used to call to and or appease the appropriate spirits for the occasion needed, such as a good yam harvest in December.

After the performances were through, we realized they had laid out all their hand made wood and stone carvings for us to purchase. It was difficult to decide as there were so many spectacular items to choose from. It seemed like we were encircled by the entire village while we contemplated how much money could we spend and how much room did we have on the boats to store trinkets. We would have taken it all if we could. As we chose our items, the maker and craftsman of that particular item stepped
forward. We didn't really put two and two together in the beginning that they were watching us appreciated or pass over each of their own artifacts. It broke our hearts to not take one of something from everyone. Each as deserving as the next. The joy though is getting to watch the money go directly to families and villagers that desperately need it. Especially inland, they live by such meager means, torn clothes, and barely cots on hard dirt floors for sleeping. We gladly left the village
a heavy purse and hiked our way home with fresh coconut milk to cool us on our way. It was amazing to see that as we walked out of the village, the women were already back at work, cutting more pieces of bamboo with their hack saws, in order for the men to begin carving more flutes. There is no wasted time or effort in these neck of the woods.

Once back in town, as the sky grows dark, the volcano can be seen glowing a red crown over it's crest. Impressive. We spent dinner on shore with Jeffrey as our host. We are growing quite a palate for laplap by the kerosene lantern, while sitting on woven mats on the ground. Always happy to sit and discuss each others cultures, they are generous and giving spirits.
until next time,
Lisa and the boys

~~~~~~~~~/)~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please remember not to hit reply when responding to messages with out deleting the old message first. Thank you.

Malekula

2007-07-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

July 7, 2007
coordinates 16.32.048S,167.46.181E

From Epi we head on towards the island of Malekula. Specifically we anchored in a small bay of the southern tip of Malekula at Awai island. We had read a story about magic rocks here that can be found by a particular tree, and if struck together at night in the dark, they create blue sparks, which in turn leads to sparks in the sky (lightning) and stormy weather. On our second day there we went in search of them and Matthew was the first to spot them. Gigantic quartz stones folded in the rocky
cliffs and mountain face. Many were just laying about on the ground. We collected our loot and were apparently bold enough to tempt fate that night, we struck them together in the dark. Low and behold, they do make sparks! Luckily for us though the winds and weather didn't turn on us, but I'd be lying if I said we didn't keep an extra ear out that night for the signs of change.

Our first encounter on the island though was a barrage of outriggers. We had grown accustom to the routine. As soon as you drop anchor they all row out to you in hopes of trading fresh fruits and veggies for clothing, smokes or whatever you may have to trade. And is custom in many of these islands, they grow their gardens on one island and row back across to live on another. So at sunset while we drop anchor they just happen to be finishing up their day tending their gardens. We weren't in need
of much so we exchanged smiles and photo ops of these creative outriggers outfitted with sails and carrying entire families. Then came our first true experience of someone trying to pull the wool over our eyes. In comes David. A local who kindly offered his goods. He had bananas, let me tell you, the only thing we never need. We politely declined, unless he had some yams or grapefruit to come back and trade later. He said he would be back at 5:30. He returned but brought only small reef fish,
dozens of them. The ones that you might find in a really nice fish tank in the doctors waiting room. Not wanting to be impolite we accepted 3 of them. He then tried to explain to us that his father was the chief of the island and it would cost us 1000 vatu's to anchor there for the night. He explained that is was not just us, but every yacht that stops here. We were instantly curious about this because we haven't heard of this anywhere before, we had already met a dozen of these locals including
David and no one made mention of it earlier. Why wait until dark and our 3rd meeting to give us this news. He said his father was the island chief and sent him to collect it. Slightly suspicious but wanting to do what it right we informed him that if this was true, we would meet with the chief personally in the morning and give him the money directly. He pitifully hung his head and said, "You don't trust me." Ahhhhh Admittedly, I (Lisa) am the biggest chump/sap/any other name you'd like to apply
there, and he was playing me like a fiddle. The Kelly's at this time were anchored a stones throw from us, so I sent him over there first to let them know of the news. Thank goodness for technology. We quickly hailed them on the radio to let them know he was coming and of his agenda. To make a long story a wee bit shorter, he gave them a slightly different story with a more demanding tone. He didn't know that you don't take those tones with Kelly girl. He even came back one more time in the
dark and brought the supposed "chief" with him. We said we would pay tomorrow in the light and that was the last we saw of them. They apparently didn't even live on this island.

Bruce and Kelly boy did make a trip to shore though to meet the real "chief" Marse. A delightful older gentleman who kept an immaculate village. He was happy to offer some fresh veggies for no trade and there was no fee for anchoring in the bay. We were free to stay as long as we liked. He even gave Bruce a beautiful nautilus shell. We couldn't accept it for free so Bruce gladly gave him the 1000 vatu's we had been holding onto for just such an occasion. In the morning as we were departing
the anchorage he rowed like a mad man to catch up to us and offered a large woven basket full of fruits and veggies. The kindness of strangers and the good in people will always prevail.
until next time,
Lisa and the boys

~~~~~~~~~/)~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please remember not to hit reply when responding to messages with out deleting the old message first. Thank you.

Efate to Epi

2007-07-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

With so much to see and so little time, we are on an "island hopping crusade" as Matthew puts it. Only 30 days on our visas and a new group of villagers on each island with a little different variety of culture and traditions to share. We have managed to visit 7 anchorages, 5 islands and many different experiences into the last two weeks. It is hard to chose sometimes which way to go. Luckily the winds are some help in deciding that for us and have been very favorable all along the way.

June 30, 2007
Efate, Port Vila - Really just a quick pit stop and customs check in for us. A nicely protected anchorage with all the amenities of home, surrounded by nice water side resorts. The main excitement there was the Kelly's boat getting hit in the middle of the night by an unmanned local passenger ferry boat. No damage but Kelly boy had to board this other vessel to try to move it away only to find out that they ALWAYS leave the engine running.
We did have the opportunity to connect again with a great couple that we had met in Tanna en route to the Mt. Yasur volcano, Trevor and Rhiannon from Southern California. Very adventurous spirits, here enjoying Vanuatu as much as we were. The second big event was our "Kava" experience. That could be an entire journal entry in itself, but suffice it to say, it is terribly nasty tasting. This opinion is coming from a crew that doesn't drink coffee though. As always, it is the people that you meet
that make it wonderful. Our host for the evening was Kenzie. A kind man with a small snake on his arm that caught our attention. Again we were blessed with meeting such people that have no other agenda than to share some time with and introduce you to their world. As they told us, "We have met now, now we are friends". He took us to a local nakamal (bar) of sorts. It was dark, muddy outdoors and relatively quiet as you sit under blue tarps on picnic tables in muddy dirt and listen to the kava
speak to you. (we never did hear it say very much) They did have a great string band to listen to in case you couldn't hear your kava talking to you. We also met wonderful young guy named Edmund, who is a peer counselor down at the local health clinic. He was just as excited to sit with us for the night and learn about life at home as we were to learn from him. Don't think we will try kava any time soon again but are so glad we had the chance to share it with our two new friends.

We attempted to anchor at Hideaway Island resort where we were hoping to visit the Mele-Maat water falls and mail some underwater post cards but the weather didn't cooperate. So off we sailed with 35 knots of wind and confused seas to find a more pleasant place to sleep for the night.

July 4, 2007
On to Epi in search of dugongs. A dugong is a mammal that looks nearly exactly like manatee with the exception of the tail which looks like a whale tail. We kept an eye out for them for they were known to be seen in this bay. Occasionally we caught a glimpse or two of their noses or tails as they sounded, until the last day. A calm, quiet and overcast morning left the surface of the water very smooth which made it very easy to spot these creatures. We were just about to leave the anchorage that
morning so we had already put the outboard away for the dinghy. Instead we all hopped in the dinghy and rowed out to where we last spotted them. Relatively uninterested nor afraid of us, they continued to feed in the area. Bruce and the boys quickly put on some snorkel gear and jumped in the water. In no time Tristan spotted one swimming directly under them. They swam with the dugong for just a minute or two until he decided he didn't want company anymore and swam away. You could hear the excitement
squealing up out of their snorkels and when they surfaced there were eyeballs the size of dinner plates. Very cool!
Also on Epi we had the chance to go ashore and meet Kenneth, minister of the village. He graciously gave us a full tour of his village, church, school and airport (a simple runway strip with a nice building). So full of pride and information about his island he was a wonderful host. The most dramatic difference between this village and others was the division between the houses and pieces of property. I almost looked like home with set yards and fence lines marking out beautiful jungle style
yards. They also have a boarding school in the village with a library to rival any of ours at home. It was very impressive. The children live there at the school and the tuition can be up to 1000 vatu's (approx. $10 USD) a quarter for the higher grades. The pride they show for their surrounding and the work they have accomplished is heart warming especially when you see it standing next to the meager means by which they live.
until next time,
Lisa and the boys

Vanuatu

2007-06-29T15:00:00.001-07:00

A simply calm and boring 3 day passage from Fiji to Vanuatu found us happily in the anchorage of Port Resolution, Tanna Island, Vanuatu. We did end up motoring a bit due to the lack of wind toward the end but we'll take that trip over something breaking this time. It is amazing the difference four hundred miles can make. As far as introductions go to the Vanuatu islands, this southern island is absolutely pristine and fascinating. I will start it by saying that up to this point we had prided
ourselves on trying to learn the local language and get to know everyone by name, where ever we go. Vanuatu called us out and won. As a nation they speak over 100 languages. The island of Tanna itself speaks over 40, beyond English, French and Bislama. Thank goodness they are so kind and patient with us.

Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu
coordinates 19.31.506S,169.29.788E
When we arrived we were greeted by kids in outriggers anxiously awaiting for the local supply ship to unload it's goods. The weather here is amazingly humid and of most interest to us, you can see the perpetual venting of steam around the edges of the bay from the hot springs that well up at the base of Mt. Yasur, their very active volcano. It too has it's own weather system of sorts with the continual release of large steam clouds and winds at the top of the mountain.
The four days we spent here were each an adventure in it's own right and each worth a page of writing so I will try to summarize. Walking the roads, tire tracks cut into lush grass, to find each village, a smaller community of families living together in woven huts was great fun. 20 to 30 people would live in each community, all family, surrounded by all the mango, papaya, banana, produce, etc. they need.

A local named Olsen rowed out to our boat and befriended us, trading produce for clothing and fish hooks. He even spent an entire day aboard our boat and answered every question we could come up with regarding their culture and ceremonies including their languages, he knows 27, the kastom (custom or ceremony) of Kava, the children chew the root up and spit it out, only the men are aloud to drink it, and they do, every night, magic rocks and potions, much preferred over western medicine and cannibalism
that supposedly stopped in 1969!
We were invited to a birthday party for a one year old in one of the villages and had a great afternoon sharing lap lap (a doughy substance made from bananas, yams or manioc, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked under ground with hot rocks), and snake beans, which taste much like thin strips of broccoli. We shared our stash of balloons and marbles with all the other children in the community and had a wonderful time being included in Leah's family.

Best of all was our trip up the Mt. Yasur volcano. You are only allowed to travel up the with guides when it is a level I or II and we were in luck with a level one. Truly I don't know if we would have wanted to stick around for a level II as the amount of lava we could see being spurt into the air, and the roaring sound that accompanied it was plenty exciting. Though it is plenty far away and much below the ridge we were standing on, there were moments where we would all look up and wonder if
that was the belch that may send the globs of glowing red stuff high above our heads. They actually have the only volcano post office box in the world up there as well.

Though the missionaries made their mark here long ago, and of course were then promptly eaten, Christianity is very strong here with an amazing mix of their own beliefs still held intact. The rituals for the coming of age for both boys and girls, weddings, circumcisions and funerals are alive and well. Luckily the wives are no longer strangled and placed in the grave with the chief when he dies, and for a woman it is no longer an honor to have your front 2 teeth knocked out by your husband. From
what we can tell though, each village let alone island is slightly different from the next and all the more fun to explore!

until next time,
Ata!
your crew on Ohana Kai

Erromango, Vanuatu

2007-06-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

June 24, 2006
Dillon's Bay, Erromango, Vanuatu
18.43.401S,169.00.742E

A good day sail away from Port Resolution, Tanna Island and we were in Dillon's Bay on the east side of the island of Erromango. Named for the plenitude of mango's that grow on the island but darn it is they aren't in season. That's OK because everything else is and true with many of the islands, the locals are eager to trade for clothing, fuel and even DVD's or CD's for produce. We are even getting back into to world of grapefruits much to our delight.
We were greeted by David and Oliver in a vibrant red dugout(outrigger canoe). We would soon learn about David's friendly and entrepreneurial spirit. In many of these towns it is best to get permission before walking about the land because they do own everything are you are literally walking in their yards. David gave us the go ahead and even offered to give us the grand tour the next day. We sent them over to the Kelly's who were anchored next to us and much to David and Oliver's delight they
were soon invited aboard for their very first taste of pizza.

The village of Dillon's Bay sits along side the beautiful fresh water William River, aptly named for the missionary, John Williams who of course met the same fate as most other missionaries. Upon being killed they took his body to a rock at the edge of the river and chipped an outline of his body before they cooked and ate him. On our last day there we hunted for the rock. We think that perhaps the plaque we found now sits where the outline once stood.
David and his sons gave us a lovely tour of the town, following all the way up the river to where they grow their food and draw fresh drinking water from the river. Each family owns a plot of land that is theirs to maintain all the papaya, mango, grapefruit, coconut, bananas, manioc, yams, cassava and sandalwood they can grow. To the unknowing eye it all looked like luscious jungle to us. No fences, no marks, we asked how they know where their is. They just know of course. Down river is a peaceful
looking swimming hole and just below that is a shallowed area of river rocks where at any one time you could find villagers doing laundry together or bathing babies. Just up the hill overlooking it all was an impressive piece of property fenced off for the school grounds. The children on lunch break were eager to show us their classroom and teacher Marianne had to come and see why her students were so eager to be in their classroom on their break. They learn English in school and are soon to learn
French there as well. They are not allowed to speak Erromango or Bislama within the classroom. As always we were impressed with the material they are covering and the quality of their work. Despite this education, most Erromangans stay within the island. Few even venture up to Port Vila because they have found the cost of living there is barely outweighed by what money they may be able to make if they can find a job, especially when nearly everything they need is right there on their island.

On Erromango they only speak 4 languages and they rarely partake of the Kava. It was noticeable as many of the older men in the village looked much more bright eyed and bushy tailed. Long term Kava use must wreak some serious havoc on the liver. We met up with Chief William who welcomed us with open arms and wished us well. It was here that we began to learn again of David's hard working nature. He had been the first out to our boat and invited us to his home for a traditional dinner with his
family. First come first serve when approaching sailors it seems but you have to be careful not to step on local toes. You see, he wanted to charge us for our dining experience, fair by us since it is his food and time, but the village chief often likes to see the wealth the village brings in spread throughout the village. We seemed to make it through this one without causing too much strife, but you can see the importance on making sure you have all the information before you start committing.

We did meet back at David's home and that evening and shared a wonderful meal with his wife Rhoda and quite a few local children. Matthew and Tristan kept them giggling the entire time with silly charade games and some good ole' wrestling. The meal was delicious and we can easily say Rhoda's lap lap was the best we've tasted yet. They had even killed a pig fresh for us that day. What made the evening extra special was the importance David placed on the sharing of stories of our lives, home and
own cultures. They truly love opening their doors to meet folks like us. At the end of the evening we handed out our share of balloons again and I am afraid they may never ask us back again. Even as we rode our dinghy back to our boat, late in the evening in the dark, with the Kelly's, you could hear the never ending 6 balloon salute as the squeaky air continually leaked out of each in long wailing tunes. There are some tricks that kids just inherently know, no matter what part of the globe your
standing on.
Ata
your Ohana Kai crew

Done in Fiji

2007-06-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

6/12/07
Lautoka, Viti Levu, Fiji Islands
coordinates 17.36.029S,177.26.535E

We are all done in Fiji. We have a lovely last week. Rather relaxing time all together here which was just what we wanted. We filled our mornings with some great school work. The boys have been really motivated lately! We tried to keep the afternoons as fun as possible with swimming and wake boarding and of course, projects of one sort of another. We received our new water maker membrane and new fuel uptake valve. We even received a new hand held mic for the outside radio so we are back in
business. Unclogged a clogged head, cleaned the bottom of the boat a bit, changed the alternator again,
the list goes on.

A final field trip to the local school on Malolo Island was a fun treat. The island itself it connected to Malolo'lailai Island by reef at low tide so we had a choice. Either walk across the reef and around the island to the villages or time it just right with the dinghy to arrive around high tide. We opted, successfully, for high tide, with Kelly girl from s/v Moorea watching for depth and Laura from s/v New Dawn at the helm of her dinghy, and Lisa raising and lowering the outboard as needed
to avoid hitting the prop on coral. We didn't realize that when we met up with the head school master one day and asked if we could come for a visit we would end up being the "guests of honor" along with the villages minister. The whole school was celebrating their version of "Earth Day/Arbor Day" with oratory competitions between students, singing and a flag ceremony. All their art work and recent writing projects were hanging about on display for all to view just like at home. The theme of
the day was their environment and the protection of the resources. They are doing great work there, and head master Philipo runs a wonderfully fun and tight ship. We had the opportunity for view our first Kava ceremony.

Kava or yanoqa (aka grog), is a drink made from a local pepper plant. Although we haven't tasted it personally, we've heard it tastes like dirty water and makes your lips and tongues go numb. It is non alcoholic but we've heard different stories claiming it's tranquilizing capabilities. It is an integral part of their culture and daily lives and is passed around between the head men of the village with a bit of ceremony and lots of clapping. When entering any new village we were to brings gifts
of the kava, specially wrapped as an offering or sevu sevu the village's chief. Though we were never able to give any away either, it was still fun to witness the ceremony.

Officially checked out of the country, we are on our way to our next destination of the island of Tanna in Vanuatu.
until next time,
Lisa and the boys

Keeping ourselves busy

2007-06-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

Bula,
We are keeping ourselves busy this week with projects. Still hunkered down in Malolo'lailai Island, one after another we are checking off items that aren't even on the list. The water pump began to act up, so that took a few days to diagnose and solve. The back head had sucked up a piece of pumice and refused to do it's job anymore. Thank goodness it was only that. We managed to break the shower nozzle on the swim step in the back. McGyver is alive and well on our boat. Next came the toys.
The wind has picked up around here so Bruce got a lot of kitesurf time in, which leads to wear and tear on equipment. Two holes in one bladder and a baton broke in two places. We are masters of tape and fiberglass.
The Kelly's on Moorea had a fun project as well. This time the master tool was a plunger. They needed a new through hole put in for their head. When you place a plunger on the underside of the boat in the water, you can actually drill new holes or in this case larger holes in your boat. We had done it a time or two before with Lawur in Mexico, so now we initiated the Kelly's into the club.
PE this week consisted of some great snorkeling and more wake boarding. We are looking forward to exploring the island of Malolo'lailai by bike today. Try out some new muscle groups and see some new sights. Last but not least we had a little visitor this morning on the swim ladder. While outside chatting we noticed a veritable aquarium developing in our backyard. We had left the plug out of the dinghy and it was half full of water. A little fish had jumped in and made it home for the evening.
Second, a beautiful black and light blue stripped sea snake coiled around the steps to rest before going on his way.
until next time
Lisa and the boys

Malolo'lailai Island

2007-05-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

Bula,
No doubt the most common word we hear any where in Fiji. Hands down they are some of the most friendly people we have met anywhere on our travels. They will come up behind us on the streets just to say hello and have a conversation, genuine and kind.
In the last two weeks we finished the repairs on the sails and other odd projects and set out to explore. Our first stop was Batiluva Resort on the island of Yanuca, just south of Viti Levu. A quiet little surf resort get away run by American's Sharon and Dan. This exquisite little get away was the perfect stop to rejuvenate our souls. The Kelly's on Moorea joined us and they boys got in a great day of surfing at the famous Frigates Pass. The odd thing about Fiji is that whether by tribal or
American influence, they have come to "own" the waves. Some of the worlds most famous surfing waves exist here but are off limits to most people unless you are paying the right price to stay at the hotel that "owns" the wave. Interesting concept. We enjoyed the friendship and kindness at Batiluva and felt none of the that there. Everything there is for you to share in. They boys had a blast with kayaks and helping Dan care for the grounds by keeping the burn pile well fed. Sharon kept us well
fed with a delicious home made meal.

Next on the stop was Musket Cove on the Island of Malolo'lailai. Located west of the main island of Viti Levu it is tucked in a host of islands that are quickly becoming covered in resorts. Guide books a couple of years old that may have mentioned one or two resorts could now be packed with seven. The friendliness is still present, maybe a bit more forced. We are enjoying being anchored out in a slightly protected cove. Still spending our mornings with chores and school and our afternoons filled
with fun. We gave the boys their first lessons on riding Bruce's kite board as a wake board behind the dinghy. Great fun and everyone was able to get up the first day. Next on the list was testing out a couple of different resort pools on shore. Some with slides and some the perfect shape for Marco Polo. There aren't many places where you literally have to walk across a dirt airport landing strip just to reach your destination. Only in paradise. Last but not least this week the boys and I
had our first shot at flying the trainer kite in preparation someday for learning how to kite surf. Set on a small sandy cay that disappears with the tide we had to hustle as the water came up around our ankles. The smiles on their faces said it all.

We took a quick break in there to move the boat over to the main land for check in's to this new island group and when the opportunity arises, we always see a movie. This time it was Pirates of the Caribbean III. Our favorite quote "The world is getting smaller. No, it's the same size, there's just less in it." Watching as each culture we've visited losses a bit of it's individuality in the name of progress we might have to agree.

We will play out the remainder of our time in Fiji floating around this and some surrounding islands. We are awaiting some parts to be mailed here and then we are anxious to head out to Vanuatu and explore their volcanos.

Until next time,
Bula
your Ohana Kai crew

Remember, when you email us, please write to this address as we cannot retrieve the yahoo and ohanakai.net addresses until we find internet. It has been very difficult to find in Fiji. When you do reply make sure that you cut out the old email info and start fresh. We cannot handle great volumes of information through the Ham radio. Thanks.

On to Fiji

2007-05-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

May 11, 2007
Suva Harbor, Viti Levu, Fiji Islands
coordinates 18.07.369S, 178.25.782E

After an 8 day crossing we had the islands in our sights. What started as a delightful sail turned into quite a busy experience for us. After a couple of glorious and sunny days of sailing we were aware that big winds and weather were on the way. Prepared as we were, the 35-45 knot winds and 3-4 meter seas for the next few days were not necessarily comfortable but not a big problem. As they passed though things started to unravel. As the saying goes, if it could go wrong it did.

Right off the bat the fridge and freezer decided to act up soaring to new temperature highs. Next the water maker stopped desalinating up to our standards. The engine began to lug down to a near dead stop and not have the power it usually does. An issue we had thought we addressed in the marina but were not sure now. We ended up changing the alternator 4 times including rebuilding one with our two combined backups before the heavy weather hit. The engine never did have it's usual pep but it
hung in there questionably when we needed to use it for charging the batteries.

As the heavy weather hit we took many a breaking wave over the stern knocking out the autopilot and shorting out lights in the cockpit. Truly one of the toughest parts is the sleep deprivation, the root of all evil. The noise created by the large breakers hitting the boat night and day disrupts any sort of decent sleep. After 48 hours of howling winds and the weather began to die down. Aside from electrical issues we seemed no worse for the wear. Now with a nominal 10 knots of wind we had to
motor sail. Some how in only the lightest of winds with a reefed main a 10 - 12 ft. seam in the main sail let loose. There was no big blow out, no flogging of sails, so we figure there must have been some worn stitching that just decided to let loose. We took that sail off and put up just the jib to help motor sail as well. Not long after that a strange sound arose and we found by some fluke of nature we back winded the jib to find the spreader spearing right through it. Two sails down.

Five days out and lots of motoring ahead and again the engine didn't sound well, running itself down to nearly a complete stop at times. We nursed it along, changing filters, changing fuel tanks and deciding that we had best get at least one sail repaired if possible. We knuckled down and we hand stitched around the clock, we figure 3000 stitches. We weren't sure at this point if we would have enough fuel to make it to Fiji. We could definitely feel the changes in latitudes as the temperature
in the cabin was soaring into the 90's. Running the engine only exacerbates that inside the cabin. Each time we turned around though small things continued to plague us, the fridge and freezer continuing their rising temperatures, GPS would randomly go on the blink, computers would stop working when we least expected it, the clock stopped, new batches of batteries right out of the pack wouldn't work. We were beginning to think we were in some new Bermuda type triangle. We limped into Suva with
a beautiful sunrise on Friday, dropped anchor in 8 feet of muddy water in front of the Royal Suva Yacht Club and looked in awe at the busy port working around us. One sail repaired, the engine stuck in there with us the whole way, the fridge and freezer decided to come back to life and some friendly Fijian custom agents boarded our boat and checked us into the country. Listening to the various nets we realized we still had much to be thankful for as other boats lost their autopilot all together
and had to hand steer nearly the whole passage.

Our first journey onto shore brought much fun and surprises. Enjoying the differences between the mix of Fijian and Indian culture here, you can get a taste of both worlds. The open air market is full of familiar and still new foods for us. We found new sea weeds treats, Indian jack fruit, and of course the coveted Kava root that we will be delivering as gifts to the chiefs of the various islands we meet. We almost had the boys married off to an adorable little Indian gal in the first few hours.
It may be a long journey. We will continue to repair a few of our projects here in Suva for a couple of days and then head to the outer islands in search of more fun and adventure.
until then, Bula!
your crew on Ohana Kai

Slight Blog Change

2007-04-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, We had to make a Change to our old Blog Site so all of our new posts will appear here. If you would like to see any of our older posts please click on the Link to the right labeled "Old Blogs" or here http://ohanakaiold.blogspot.com Sorry for the inconvenience.

Bruce and Crew